Photo: Plaque 3, The Grandest Annual Gathering of the South

Photographer: Mike Stroud
Taken: January 2009
Caption: Plaque 3, The Grandest Annual Gathering of the South
Additional Description: The Confederate memorial services at Rivers Bridge quickly attracted many people to remember loved ones lost in the war. Others were drawn by the fellowship and good food available at the ceremonies. Politicians seeking votes and young people looking for fun followed the crowds. By the late 1800s attendance ranged in the thousands, and large crowds remained common into the 1960s. Lonf after anyone who remembered the war had passed away, though, the primary purpose of the gathering remained the same - to remember the Confederate dead and draw meaning from their sacrifice.
" It was the grandest annual gathering of the South, this voluntary meeting of the thousands to pledge unwavering loyalty to the truth of the past and the duty of the future."
- The Barnwell People, May 4, 1899
South Carolina State Park Service
Submitted: January 27, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
Database Locator Identification Number: p51415
File Size: 0.141 Megabytes

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