Hagood Mill Hosts Banjo Extravaganza April 20

Come join the friends of the Pickens County Museum as “Music in the Mountains 2013” continues with the Hagood Mill hosting a special “Banjo in the Wood” concert on Saturday, April 20. This free event will feature a performance on the mill’s outdoor stage from 1:00 to 3:00, by two-time national banjo champ, Charles Wood and his band, Nitrograss.

Wood is absolutely one the world’s best banjo players and always puts on a great show. Opening at 12:00 will be the old time sounds of Pine Top Revival. Bring a lawn chair and plan on staying a while for a real musical treat. Bring your instrument too, as there are usually a couple of jams going on around the site. The old gristmill and other demonstrations will be running from 10:00 until 4:00.

The old water-powered 1845 gristmill is one of the finest examples of nineteenth century technology in the Upstate and operates just as it has for the last century-and-a-half…the mill will be running throughout the day. In the old mill, fresh stone-ground corn meal, grits and wheat flour will be available, as well as Hagood Mill cookbooks and a variety of other mill related items.

The Hagood Mill hosts a variety of folklife and traditional arts demonstrations each month, including blacksmithing, bowl-digging, flintknapping, chair-caning, moonshining, broom-making, basket-making, pottery, quilting, spinning, knitting, weaving, woodcarving, open-hearth cooking, metal-smithing, leather-working and more! Check out the classes offered through the Pickens County Museum’s Field School at the museum and the mill site.

The Pickens Azalea Festival will be taking place this same day, and there will be a shuttle bus service from Main Street Pickens (behind the Gatehouse Restaurant) to the Hagood Mill from 10:00 to 4:00. The bus will arrive and depart from just inside the mill site’s parking field next to the sidewalk and pedestrian bridge.

There promises to be lots to do and lots of fun! So, head on out, grab a plate of great food on site from the Gatehouse Restaurant folks and enjoy a day at the Mill. Show your support for the Mill and the Pickens County Museum by joining them at this monthly Third Saturday event.

The Hagood Mill operates, rain or shine, the third Saturday of every month and is located just 3 miles north of Pickens or 5 ½ miles south of Cherokee Foothills Scenic Hwy 11 off SC Hwy 178 at 138 Hagood Mill Road. Hagood Mill is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 until 4:00, to tour the buildings and grounds and to visit the Mill Site Gift Shop.

“Music in the Mountains 2013” is sponsored by a private benefactor. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

For additional information please contact the Hagood Mill at (864) 898-2936 or the Pickens County Museum at (864) 898-5963.