Slobot About Town CXXXIII: Slobot visits the Historic Homes of Spartanburg, pt. 07!

Slobot About Town CXXXIII:

Slobot visits the Historic Homes of Spartanburg, pt. 7!

One of the most storied homes in Spartanburg is the three-story Foster's Tavern.

Foster’s Tavern was built by Anthony Foster during the years of 1801 to 1807. At the time of its construction, the public house sat at the intersection of what were then the old Pinckneyville and Georgia roads. Today it sits at the intersection of highways 56 and 295.

Bricks for the home were made on-site, and the all-brick exterior is some 16-24 inches thick!

Columns were added to the house in 1845 with piazzas following in 1915.

Foster’s Tavern was a particularly popular stagecoach stop for riders destined for Glenn Springs.

Once through this door, though, travelers were separated by gender,

with men using the forward stairs to access their rooms...

and women using the rear stairway. The stairway to the women's rooms was well-guarded. Today it remains well-guarded... by stuffed animals!

Up the forward stairway Slobot found the men's rooms. These rooms have hosted a few notable men.

One of those men was Bishop Francis Asbury, who noted a stay at the Tavern in an 1810 diary entry.

Another famous guest, who allegedly slept in this very room, was John C. Calhoun! Calhoun would allegedly stay on the second floor, in this room, during his trips between Columbia and Fort Hill. The second floor, today, is known as the John C. Calhoun floor in his honor.

In 1922 Dr. Samuel Theron DeJarnette Lancaster (1857 -1936) and his second wife, Ada Poole Smith Lancaster (1871 - 1949) would take possession of Foster's Tavern. Ada Poole Smith Lancaster (1871 - 1949) (pictured above in white) had been raised in Glenn Springs in another historic house, Camp Hill. Slobot visited Camp Hill and Glenn Springs in the previous episode.

Ada Poole Smith Lancaster and her husband would raise their children Samuel Theron DeJarnette Lancaster, Jr. (1909 - 1977) and Ada Smith Lancaster (1911 - 1973) in the house. Ada Smith Lancaster would marry James Pierpont Ruff and they, too, would raise their children Mary Ada, Jim and Frances Rachel in the house.

Foster’s Tavern’s current humans are Mary Ada and her husband Gary Poole. This is Gary Poole's office.

Gary Poole is a Gaffney native who spent some three decades in New York City. It was in the Big Apple that Poole would catch a big break and get invited to write for Gold Key Comics. Poole would also go on to write books...