Poinsett State Park is located in Sumter County,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. The park is best known for its botanical oddities, combining

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

from the foothills of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

, the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region of Upstate South Carolina, the

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habita ...

Sandhills, and the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Poinsett State Park contains mountain laurels draped with

Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an Epiphyte, epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America (as far ...

. The park is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, former

United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

, the first American ambassador to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the popularizer of the

poinsettia The poinsettia (; ''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It ...

. The park is surrounded by the Manchester State Forest and provides access to the Palmetto Trail, as well as linked hiking and mountain bike trails. Manchester State Forest also features designated equestrian trails. Poinsett State Park is located in the High Hills of Santee, a nearly 25-mile-long upland region with hills up to 5 miles wide. Formed from the erosion of an ancient seashore, the High Hills of Santee lie on the eastern side of the upper Santee River and extend north through

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumt ...

and Lee Counties, running parallel to the Wateree River.

History

History of the Land

The site was used by various Siouan tribes of Native Americans, including the Santee, Wateree and Catawba, primarily for hunting. The non-Siouan Congaree lived nearby and may have also frequented the area. In the 1740s, brothers John and Timothy Dargan purchased several hundred acres of land in the High Hills. In the late 1760s, Matthew Singleton, a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

settler, purchased part of the Dargan property. On this land, Singleton developed and lived in Melrose Plantation. In 1813 and 1814, the land was deeded to two members of the Singleton family, who owned many plantations in Sumter County. The Melrose plantation burned in Potter’s Raid, a three-week destruction effort led by General Edward E. Potter, and only a graveyard remained on the property. Throughout the nineteenth century, the Williman, Belser, Manning, Wells, and Levi families also held land in the High Hills of Santee. In the early 1930s, Sumter County bought 1,000 acres of this land (4 km²) and donated it to the South Carolina Forestry Commission to create Poinsett State Park, the second state park established in South Carolina.Kemp, Maggie (2025). "Poinsett State Park: A Landscape of Recreation, Racism, and Conservation in Sumter, South Carolina": 14-24.

Civilian Conservation Corps

Poinsett State Park was the first of many parks built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

in South Carolina. Three different CCC companies, each with around 200 men, worked on the park. Construction began on October 22, 1934, and the park opened to the public on August 5, 1936.

CCC Company 421

Company 421 was the first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) company to work on Poinsett State Park. The company was composed of young, white, men with limited formal education. They arrived in October 1934 and departed in late summer 1935 to work on an erosion prevention project in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Company 421’s contributions to the park included constructing roads, installing water, power, and telephone lines, building a picnic shelter, initiating the construction of a bathhouse and park ranger residence, and restoring Old Levi Mill Lake. Although the park was not officially open during this period, it attracted visitors, with attendance on weekends and holidays reaching up to 500 people. While stationed at Poinsett State Park, Company 421 members had access to educational opportunities. Course offerings included camp work, forestry, agriculture, woodworking, mechanics, algebra, French, piano, voice, and swimming. Lifeguarding classes from the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

were also available. Enrollees participated in sports such as basketball, baseball, boxing, tennis, and volleyball. Company 421 interacted with the nearby white community through dances, concerts and field trips. Company 421 published a monthly camp paper, ''Poinsette Pointers'', which covered topics such as education, athletics, hunting, religion, and social events, paid homage to camp leaders, and featured sketches, stories, poems, advertisements and medical reports.

CCC Company 4475

On August 19, 1935, around 200 African American CCC enrollees from Greenwood, Clinton, and Orangeburg cities in South Carolina arrived at Poinsett State Park as Company 4475. Originally designed for white men, the CCC accepted African Americans after former U.S. Representative Oscar De Priest opposed discrimination during the 1933 Emergency Conservation Act. Racial integration in CCC companies was generally limited to areas with low African American enrollment; otherwise, African-American enrollees were typically placed in all-Black camps. Many Southern states, including

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and South Carolina, enrolled limited numbers of Black men in the CCC, often only after external pressure. In 1933, South Carolina’s African American population was over 50 percent, and Black enrollees comprised 36 percent of the state’s total CCC enrollees, the highest proportion of African American enrollment of the Southern states. Conversely, in 1933, Mississippi’s African American population was over 50 percent, but Black enrollees made up only 1.7 percent of the state’s CCC enrollment. Georgia and Alabama each enrolled 178 and 776 Black men in 1933, respectively. In 1938, approximately ten percent of all CCC enrollees nationwide were African American.Civilian Conservation Corps. Company 4475. (1935). Pine whispers. Company 4475. https://pascal-usc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=01PASCAL_USCCOL:USC&search_scope=MyInstitution&tab=LibraryCatalog&docid=alma991019374999705618. While working on Poinsett, Company 4475 continued developing park roads, completed the caretaker’s house, and performed additional work on the bathhouse. The Sumter community resisted the presence of an African American CCC company both before the enrollees began work and during their efforts. To avoid contact with white visitors, Company 4475 was not allowed to swim in Old Levi Mill Lake and was denied access to the public portion of the park outside of working hours. At Poinsett, Company 4475 published a camp paper, ''Pine Whispers''. The publication covered topics similar to Company 421’s ''Poinsette Pointers'' but also addressed the CCC’s racial integration and included songs, stories, and poems about the African American CCC experience. Due to racial intolerance, in November 1935, Company 4475 was reassigned to a project in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, South Carolina. This caused work on Poinsett State Park to pause.

CCC Company 2413

On April 27, 1939, President Roosevelt proclaimed that applicants over the age of 40 should be given fair consideration for entry into the CCC. In 1941, approximately 200,000 veterans had enrolled in the CCC, and there were over 136 veteran CCC companies. In the 1930s and 1940s, many veterans were unemployed and lacked significant education. 49% of CCC veterans had not completed grade school; 29% had completed elementary school but did not attend high school; 14% had from 1 to 3 years of high school; 5% had completed high school; 3% had completed from 1 to 4 years of college. In addition to employment, the CCC offered classes to veteran enrollees. On February 5, 1936, work on Poinsett resumed when Company 2413 arrived from Givhans Ferry State Park in Ridgeville, South Carolina. Company 2413 consisted of approximately 200 white World War I veterans, with an average age of 41. Most of the men had served overseas, and together, they had experience in 156 different civilian occupations. Company 2413’s contributions included a recreation building, two picnic shelters, four overnight rental cabins, a reservoir building, five water fountains, and a gatehouse near the park entrance. Poinsett State Park opened to the public on August 5, 1936. The World War I veterans stayed for nearly 2 more years, transferring to Lake Greenwood State Park in July 1938.

Historic Preservation

The Civilian Conservation Corps built many structures that are still in use at Poinsett State Park from locally quarried

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' comes from the S ...

rock. During the days of racial segregation, the nearby state park for African Americans was Mill Creek Group Camp. Poinsett was closed in 1963 for a year, along with all of South Carolina's state parks, due to a Federal court order to desegregate the parks, and it was not until 1966 that all its facilities were reopened. The park's historical elements were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2016.

Flora and Fauna

Surveys have found 337 species of flowering plants within the park, including 65 species of trees and shrubs. Tree species include mountain laurel (''

Kalmia latifolia ''Kalmia latifolia'', the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a flowering plant and one of the 10 species in the genus of Kalmia belonging to the heath(er) family Ericaceae. It is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretch ...

''), white oak (''

Quercus alba ''Quercus alba'', the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as ...

''), black oak ('' Q. velutina''), turkey oak ('' Q. laevis''), water oak ('' Q. nigra''), pignut hickory ('' Carya glabra''), loblolly pine (''

Pinus taeda ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

''), longleaf pine ('' P. palustris''), flowering dogwood (''

Cornus florida ''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering plant, flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to n ...

''), wax myrtle ('' Morella cerifera''), American holly ('' Ilex opaca''), sweetgum (''

Liquidambar styraciflua ''Liquidambar styraciflua'', commonly known as the American sweetgum among other names, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central A ...

''), baldcypress (''

Taxodium distichum ''Taxodium distichum'' (baldcypress, bald-cypress, bald cypress, swamp cypress; ; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a ...

''), swamp gum ('' Nyssa biflora''), water tupelo ('' N. aquatica''), and red maple ('' Acer rubrum''). Many species of animals can be found in the park, including copperhead snakes (''

Agkistrodon contortrix The eastern copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix''), also known simply as the copperhead, is a widespread species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the Family (biology ...

''), cottonmouth snakes ('' A. piscivorus''), American alligators ('' Alligator mississippiensis''), and bobcats ('' Lynx rufus''), but these are rarely observed. Animals more typically encountered by visitors include golden silk orb-weaver spiders ('' Nephila clavipes''), largemouth bass ('' Micropterus salmoides''), bullfrogs ('' Rana catesbeiana''), river frogs ('' Rana heckscheri''), spring peeper treefrogs ('' Pseudacris crucifer''), Carolina anole lizards (''

Anolis carolinensis ''Anolis carolinensis'' or green anole () (among other names below) is a tree-dwelling species of anole lizard native to the southeastern United States and introduced to islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Caribbean Sea, Caribbean. A small ...

''), five-lined skinks ('' Eumeces fasciatus''), yellow-bellied slider turtles ('' Trachemys scripta scripta''), banded watersnakes ('' Nerodia fasciata''), coachwhip snakes ('' Masticophis flagellum''), eastern hognose snakes ('' Heterodon platirhinos''), Rafinesque's big-eared bats ('' Corynorhinus rafinesquii''), great egrets ('' Ardea alba''), wood ducks ('' Aix sponsa''), turkey vultures ('' Cathartes aura''), red-tailed hawks ('' Buteo jamaicensis''), belted kingfishers ('' Ceryle alcyon''), red-bellied woodpeckers ('' Melanerpes carolinus''), blue-gray gnatcatchers ('' Polioptila caerulea''), and prothonotary warblers ('' Protonotaria citrea'').

References

External links

Official page
{{authority control State parks of South Carolina Civilian Conservation Corps in South Carolina Protected areas of Sumter County, South Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Sumter County, South Carolina National Park Service Rustic architecture