Aiken


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It seems unlikely that a place as far off the beaten track as Aiken, South Carolina, would become the preferred wintering location for the denizens of New York society. But from the late 1800s, the most recognized names in Americathe Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, and even the Rooseveltsbegan coming to this charming Southern city to escape the cold, relax among the oaks, and play. And play they did, establishing Aiken as an international polo capital and a premier place to ride, hunt, and golf. Aiken has so much history beyond the folks known as the winter colonists. Legends of the areas restorative powers date back to Native Americans. Aiken also boasts an amazing number of records, including the destination for the worlds longest railroad in 1833 and the second-oldest 18-hole golf course in the United States, the Palmetto Golf Club, built in 1892.




The Outlook


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The Rise of the New South


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Stories of the Rich and Famous


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Aiken was a small, relatively obscure southern town until the arrival of an aristocratic New Orleans family with strong societal ties. And it didnt take long before there was a seasonal flood of winter visitorswith names like Hitchcock, Vanderbilt, Whitney, and Astor. This South Carolina town was drawing the countrys wealthiest and most powerful families, beginning in the 19th century and continuing on past World War II. Every fall they came by private railcar to play polo and golf, race thoroughbreds, and hunt fox. They held high tea, musicales, balls, and dinners, and every spring the Winter Colony migrated north again, leaving behind mansions and traditions that still resonate in Aiken 100 years later.Author David M. Tavernier has woven a fascinating collection of stories around the people and places of this era. Based on fact, fiction, and years of historical research, the stories of the Newport of the South are masterfully and vividly brought to life.




Snow's Hand Book


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Official Catalogue


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House & Garden


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A Golden Haze of Memory


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Charleston, South Carolina, today enjoys a reputation as a destination city for cultural and heritage tourism. In A Golden Haze of Memory, Stephanie E. Yuhl looks back to the crucial period between 1920 and 1940, when local leaders developed Charleston's trademark image as "America's Most Historic City." Eager to assert the national value of their regional cultural traditions and to situate Charleston as a bulwark against the chaos of modern America, these descendants of old-line families downplayed Confederate associations and emphasized the city's colonial and early national prominence. They created a vibrant network of individual artists, literary figures, and organizations--such as the all-white Society for the Preservation of Negro Spirituals--that nurtured architectural preservation, art, literature, and tourism while appropriating African American folk culture. In the process, they translated their selective and idiosyncratic personal, familial, and class memories into a collective identity for the city. The Charleston this group built, Yuhl argues, presented a sanitized yet highly marketable version of the American past. Their efforts invited attention and praise from outsiders while protecting social hierarchies and preserving the political and economic power of whites. Through the example of this colorful southern city, Yuhl posits a larger critique about the use of heritage and demonstrates how something as intangible as the recalled past can be transformed into real political, economic, and social power.