GREER, S.C. — In the heart of what is now Taylors, an ancient, mineral-laden spring flows, and it is still known as Chick Springs, named after the man who made it famous. 

Undoubtedly, its medicinal waters were well known by the Cherokee who roamed the area from time immemorial. Also, the earliest white settlers were familiar with the spring that would later be made famous by a physician named Chick.

The year was 1840. Dr. Burwell Chick was a medical doctor from Newberry who somehow heard about the healing spring. Modern medicine was in its infancy. 

Before the days of sophisticated diagnostic tests and supe-effective antibiotics, physicians relied on natural remedies, many of which had been shrouded in superstition. 

Mineral springs became popular destinations for folks with all kinds of mysterious maladies, ranging from liver ailments and digestive issues to “Consumption,” as it was then known. We now know it as tuberculosis. It was a feared killer in the nineteenth century. 

South Carolina seemed to have a number of these mineral springs, from the so-called “Healing Springs” near Blackville to Glenn Springs in Spartanburg County. Enterprising people developed resorts around these springs and publicized the important healing values of their new ventures.

In 1840, Dr. Chick erected an elegant hotel around the spring and travelers from as far away as New York and Louisiana found their way to what would become known as Chick Springs. He also sold lots along what is now Main Street in Taylors for visitors to build vacation cottages and permanent homes. 

After Dr. Chick’s death in 1847, his two sons took over and continued operations of the resort. In the 1850s, Chick Springs was renowned as the “Saratoga of the South,” a reference to the popular New York resort that famously became a destination for the rich and famous. Chick Springs would eventually cover 195 acres, and its popularity continued to grow.

As was the case with so many Southern resorts, the death knell for Chick Springs, at least for the moment, was the Civil War of 1861. The empty hotel burned to the ground on Nov. 4, 1862. 

It wasn’t until 1881 that interest in the springs revived. Atlanta attorney George Westmoreland bought half interest in the spring from the one surviving Chick brother, Pettus. He constructed a hotel much smaller than the original, along with several vacation cottages and pavilions. Later, the hotel was greatly expanded under new owners, and it became more of a recreation area than anything else. A large swimming lake with a white sandy bottom was created and a stage and pavilion were constructed for dances and concerts. The swimming lake remained open for years, but the hotel burned to the ground in 1907.

Today the once-thriving Chick Springs has been abandoned to Mother Nature. Even the swimming lake is now overgrown with weeds and trees. There seems to be a renewed interest in Chick Springs’ rich and legendary history, and hopefully that history will be honored. 

Until then, the trees still grow and the briars and brambles still thrive where hotels, cottages and pavilions once proudly stood.