♪ serene music ♪ <Ned> When you look down on the state of South Carolina, it's hard not to admire its grandeur, diverse ecosystems and natural beauty.

♪ There are countless fascinating places across the Palmetto State.

Each one unique.

Each one with its own story to tell.

♪ Now, it's time to see these extraordinary locations in an entirely new way.

This is the story of South Carolina told from the sky.

♪ opening music ♪ You know, it seems like anywhere you go with South Carolina, there's always something spectacular just around the corner.

Hi, I'm Ned Garnier.

And for this episode of From The Sky, we'll be traveling around the state and discovering some of its treasures hidden within plain sight.

First, we stopped here at the largest city in the upstate to discover some of its gems.

♪ upbeat music ♪ Located halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Greenville is one of the most rapidly developing cities in South Carolina.

The charm of its modern metropolitan area extends past city limits, and its beautiful untouched landscape offers some of the most serene views imaginable.

All wrapped in a unique history and culture.

♪ soaring theme music ♪ In Northern Greenville County, the Fred W. Symmes Chapel, also known as "Pretty Place" by locals, is a scenic outdoor chapel atop Stone Mountain in Y.M.C.A.

Camp Greenville.

Pretty Place was built overlooking the picturesque landscape of Greenville County for the boys and girls summer camp.

Improvements and additions have been made to the chapel like these inspiring quotes and scriptures adorning the walls and pillars of the sanctuary.

The chapel is open to the public but also hosts a variety of events such as weddings, dedications, and memorial services.

♪ Where Greenville is located today, was once a part of Cherokee hunting grounds until around 1770 when Richard Paris, a trader and pioneer of the Upstate, acquired the land from Native Americans and built a plantation known as "Great Plains", on the banks of the Reedy River.

Because Paris was a loyalist during the Revolutionary War, the Patriots took his estate and renamed it Greenville in honor of General Nathaniel Greene.

Today, the city has undergone a great deal of development.

Downtown is one of the most popular shopping, eating, and entertainment venues in the Upstate.

This was made possible by leaders like Max Heller, a prior mayor of the city who fled Austria in World War II.

Heller started a "downtown renaissance" by cutting down the number of lanes and widening sidewalks through the city creating a pedestrian- friendly atmosphere.

In the mid-1980s, the city of Greenville and the Carolina Foothills Garden Club had a vison for a modern public park and began rapidly renovating what is now Falls Park on the Reedy.

The 32-acre park and garden is considered to be one of Greenville's greatest treasures, showcasing beautiful works of art, a public garden, and hosting local annual events.

In 2004, the famous and elegant Liberty Bridge was constructed.

The 355-foot long curved suspension bridge is sustained by cables on one side only, giving an unobstructed view of the dramatic Reedy Falls and garden below.

♪ If you were to make a list of all notable landmarks in Greenville, it would be incomplete without mentioning the Westin Poinsett Hotel.

This was the location for the Mansion House Hotel until 1924 when it was demolished to make room for its successor.

The following year, on June 20, 1925, the Poinsett Hotel opened its doors to guests and was one of the finest hotels in the country.

Even though the city has changed dramatically around the Poinsett these past 97 years, the hotel still possesses the same opulence and reputation.

The 12 story, 200 room building is the only triple "A", four-diamond hotel in all of Greenville.

It's also had its fair share of distinguished guests over the years such as Amelia Earhart, Bobby Kennedy, and President Barack Obama.

Being visible for miles outside of the city, The Westin Poinsett Hotel is a recognizable icon of downtown Greenville.

♪ It is easy to see how Greenville can be considered the embodiment of modern southern culture.

It will be interesting to see how it develops even further in the years to come.

When traveling through the state, you'll undoubtedly come across some of the picturesque small towns of South Carolina, each shrouded with its own tales and legends that are passed down from generation to generation.

Next, let's investigate to see if any of these spine tingling stories can be explained, or if they are indeed true.

♪ eerie music ♪ There's a plethora of stories revolving around the world of the unknown in South Carolina.

From the ghost pirates of Charleston to the lizard man of the swamps, this state has been the perfect place for these legends and mysterious tales to take root and grow in chilling detail.

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ One of the most talked about ghost stories in Anderson, South Carolina, is the haunting of Crybaby Bridge.

♪ Rumored to be originally built in Virginia in the early 20th century, this truss bridge crosses the Rocky River at scenic High Shoals point.

Aside from being a rusted relic that was replaced by a cement bridge in the 1980s, there isn't much to see save for some expressive graffiti.

The legend surrounding the bridge, however, is as notorious as it is ominous.

There are several different accounts of the legend.

One version is about a mother and her baby getting into an accident at the bridge while another more sinister story insists that the baby was thrown into the river below.

Regardless of what variant of the legend is told, people have experienced some strange occurrences.

There have been reports of a woman dressed in white searching for her missing baby on the bridge, as well as a ghostly cry emanating from the water.

Could people actually be hearing the cry of a ghost baby or are they just being scaredy cats?

[ cat meows ] ♪ eerie music ♪ In Sumter County, there's one historical church with its own supernatural story.

Built in 1846, the Salem Black River Presbyterian Church was founded by Scotch-Irish settlers in what is today Mayesville, South Carolina.

This building was the successor of another church constructed 44 years prior and played an integral part in developing the rural community.

Constructed using brick from local clay deposits, the Salem Church remains mostly unaltered and is one of the oldest brick churches in South Carolina.

During construction, the "“Old Session House"” located at the rear of the church was built containing a large, donated library.

Stories tell of a priest of the church who lost his entire family to the plague.

Unable to cope, his spirit lingers on.

There have been sightings of a dark figure and flickering lights inside the Sessions House.

People have also experienced cold spots and malfunctioning electronics when walking amongst the moss-covered tombstones in the graveyard.

♪ music ♪ Known for being a rough-and-tumble place in the antebellum south, Edgefield has had its fair share of grisly characters.

None, however, are as infamous as Becky Cotton also known as "“the devil in petticoats"”.

As legend goes, Becky was a "“Black Widow"” who killed her husbands out of resentment or for financial gain.

Her crimes were horrific, using axes, needles, and poison to murder her spouses.

It is said that she dragged the lifeless bodies to a deep section of Beaverdam Creek outside of the town known as Beck's Hole.

Now a part of Slade Lake, it's been said if you listen close enough, you can hear the wailing of Becky Cotton's husbands echo across the water.

When she was finally caught, her charm and beauty seduced an all-male jury that acquitted her during the murder trial.

Unfortunately for Becky, her foul deeds finally caught up to her one day when her brother, knowing what evil lied behind her pretty eyes, killed her on the courthouse steps by bludgeoning her with a rock.

♪ Whether it's a haunted bridge, ancient church, or killer bride, these spine-tingling stories make up just a modicum of the strange and spooky happenings that have taken place in South Carolina.

Whether these tales can be explained or have any truth, remains a mystery best seen, from above.

Historically, getting from one place to another has always been the driving force behind expansion and innovation.

No other mode of transportation has had quite the impact on building connections as the railroads.

Next, let's take a ride off the beaten tracks and see how these lines drew South Carolina in an entirely new way.

[ train whistle blows ] ♪ At the turn of the 19th century, North Americans predominantly traveled by wagons or boats, but a new age was on the horizon.

Nicknamed the Iron Horse, steam engines became one of the crucial contributions of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

South Carolina's valuable agricultural products created the perfect vacuum for this new advancement in technology to thrive.

Though the golden age of railways has long passed, we'll see just how important they were and the significance they still hold today.

[ train whistle blows ] ♪ soaring opening music ♪ ♪ Compared to northern states, South Carolina's railroad system was never quite as extensive.

But it was one of the first with the creation of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company.

Operating for the first time on Christmas day in 1830, the S.C.C.

and R.R.

started a railroad mania in antebellum South Carolina.

When the line was completed in 1833, connecting Charleston to Hamburg, it became the world's longest continuous railroad under single management at 136 miles.

The railroad boom would continue to expand, transforming the state, and depots created during the era would bring new towns into existence until the Civil War started in 1860.

Hundreds of miles of railroad would be dismantled by Union troops during Sherman's March to the Sea.

During Reconstruction, progress was slow in rebuilding the railways, but by the end of the century, South Carolina was close to having 4000 miles of track reaching every county within the state.

[train whistle toots] ♪ Rail fans can get their history fix and a little more at South Carolina's very own Railroad Museum.

Located in Winnsboro, the South Carolina Railroad Museum was established in 1973 by local dedicated rail fans to preserve and interpret railroading in South Carolina.

The museum is stationed at what was previously the Rockton and Rion Railway, which ran from Rockland Granite Quarry to the Anderson Granite Quarry until the 1970s.

Various freight and passenger vehicles, a historical center, as well as steam locomotive 44 that originally belonged to the Hampton and Branchville Railroad are among the exhibits.

The main attraction, however, is its guided tour and train ride that operates on five miles of the 11 and a half mile line of the former railway.

Here, passengers can get a breathtaking view of South Carolina countryside off the beaten track.

♪ After World War One and the introduction of the highway system, the need for freight and passenger trains started to diminish.

However, despite losing 1500 miles of track since the peak of the railway age, South Carolina has retained around 60 percent of its existing lines, which is a substantial amount compared to other states in the country.

Many tracks that were lost have been repurposed over the years.

Freight from the Port of Charleston, industrial products, and coal from the Upstate remain the biggest transportation market for railroads in South Carolina.

Supporting nearly 400,000 jobs, South Carolina's railway systems remain just as vital as they were in the past.

So the next time you're stuck at a railroad crossing, or hear a distant horn, be sure to take a moment and appreciate the value these essential vessels hold.

South Carolina is known for its attractions, bustling, nightlife, and charm.

For our last stop, let's see just how different a view from the top can look when all the lights go out.

♪ So far, we've flown from the swampy marshlands of the low country to the summits of the Blue Ridge Mountains seeing some the most striking landscapes in South Carolina.

But what if this was only half of the picture?

♪ When the sun sets on the palmetto state, an entirely new world is unveiled in a dazzling spectacle.

♪ Now, it's time to see the other half of the picture and travel from city to coast, shedding a new light on South Carolina.

♪ Visible for miles, the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel brilliantly illuminates the coastline.

Opening in 2011, the SkyWheel was the second tallest Ferris wheel in North America and now has become an icon of the Grand Strand, operating year-round.

Towering at 187 feet, the observation wheel is the perfect place to get a view of the Atlantic and down the boulevard.

At night, over one million LED lights display a spectacular and vibrant array of colors.

Completely customizable, these lights have also been used to signify major holidays, honor first responders, and even announce gender reveals.

It's no wonder why the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel is one of the most popular attractions in South Carolina.

♪ Further down the coast in Murrells inlet, Brookgreen Gardens comes to life during their annual "“Night of a Thousand Candles"” event.

♪ The magnificent sculptures and live oaks are decorated with countless shimmering lights and over 2700 hand-lit candles throughout the garden.

The breathtaking light show has gained notoriety being awarded "“Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights"”, by USA Today and, "“Best Christmas Lights in South Carolina"”, by Travel and Leisure Magazine.

The holiday event has become one of the most beloved attractions for families and visitors over the past 22 years.

♪ Whether it's the draped low-hanging oaks that illuminate the walkways or the highly wrought labyrinths that seem endless, the Night of a Thousand Candles is truly something magical.

♪ Moving inland, the city of Columbia skyline is a beacon of light in central South Carolina.

♪ After the sun sets, skyscrapers and street lamps brightly glow in preparation for the city's bustling nightlife.

♪ There's one time of year, however, that's a little busier than others.

Since 1869, the South Carolina State Fair has been a beloved festivity and local tradition for South Carolinians, seeing nearly 500,000 visitors each year.

Originally located downtown on Elmwood Avenue, the fair moved to its current location of Rosewood Drive in 1904.

At night, the carnival rides and concessions stands light up complimenting the food and screams in an ambiance that is one-of-a-kind.

♪ The 10-day event is also dedicated to its mission of education, providing $300,000 in scholarships to students each year, ♪ In the dark, South Carolina is still a shining light of beauty, fascination, and thrills.

♪ It's nocturnal attractions and nightly events are quite astonishing when you get so see them... From the Sky!

For more episodes of From The Sky, be sure to visit SCETV.org/fromthesky and tell us where we should visit next.

Also, be sure to visit our Facebook at SCETV and let us know what you think of the series using hashtag from the sky.

From everyone at South Carolina ETV, I'm Ned Garnier and remember the view always better from the sky.

♪ closing music ♪ ♪ ♪ This is literally the most outdoorsy I have ever been in my life.

< laughs > ♪ This is our town.

This is our town.

♪ Salutations and welcome everyone!

♪ Food is southern culture.

♪ When I think of southern cuisine, I think it's just filled with flavor, filled with love.

♪ If South Carolina was a dish, it would be a tomato sandwich.

We have really hung our hats on that, too.

♪ < laughs >