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A Hanna Family Ghost Story

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In the hollow of a Lynches River tributary just outside Johnsonville, where sandy hillsides rise to meet fertile tobacco fields, an old homestead took shape with roots that ran deep. Here, on what’s now called Arles Lane, Thomas Franklin Hanna (1873–1958) and his wife Nekoda Laharp Altman Hanna (1878–1955) built their home—a modest farmer’s cabin above that hollow which they simply called “the branch.” The couple carved their initials into one of the timber beams beneath the porch.  Some of the bricks used as the foundation were rumored to have once served as ballast for ships arriving from across the Atlantic. The land itself was part of the original grant to Hugh Hanna, Thomas’s great-grandfather and the first of the Hanna family to settle in the Johnsonville area after marching south with General Greene during the Revolution.   Prior to their arrival, this plot of land was familiar to a group of the native Catawba people. Even today, Hanna descendants still find discarded a...
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Looney's Bridge: The Real Story Behind the Legend

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Looney's Bridge as it may have looked in the 1880s.  Image created by Josh Dukes In a quiet hollow not far from Johnsonville, SC a stretch of weathered road crosses Mill Creek on a simple bridge where there once stood a rickety wooden span. Both bridges are remembered as Looney’s Bridge—a place where a ghost story tied to a teenage right-of-passage and a forgotten local tragedy mix like the dark waters of the creek. The original bridge here spanned Mill Creek just off the current footprint of Gaster Road near Johnson Cemetery.  "There is a clay hill on the back side of the old McCall property and the original roadbed is still there," remembers Benjie McCall.   The McCall family owned the surrounding farm from 1970 to 2015, with the opposite bank once part of the Ned Huggins hog farm. More than a century earlier, George Samuel Briley Huggins'  homeplace was near this place, as were those of Springs, Huggins, and Timmons families who lived within a mile of one ano...
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Wellman Combing Company, Johnsonville's Midcentury Catalyst

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Johnsonville didn’t drift into the modern era—it was jolted there. In the space of a few short years, a riverfront tract north of downtown became the engine that redefined local work, stitched the town to global markets, and spun off a clubhouse, a gas station, and whole new lines of product. What began with wool would evolve into advanced resins and large-scale recycling, drawing families, payrolls, and headlines to the south bank of Lynches River. The full story that follows traces how the deal came together, how the plant rose, and how its momentum reshaped Johnsonville for decades. Arthur Ogden "Arch" Wellman (1894-1987) Senior Year at Newton High School, 1913 Wellman traces its history to the Massachusetts wool combing company Hill & Nichols (later renamed Nichols & Company), established in 1927. But, we have to go back even further than that - to Arthur Wellman. Arthur "Arch" Wellman was born on Halloween day 1895 in Brookline, Massachusetts to Arthur ...
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S. B. Poston: Johnsonville's Modern Founder

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For more on S. B. Poston, visit Johnsonville SC History on the web Sylvester Briley "S. B." Poston (1867-1933) When I come home to Johnsonville and stop to photograph or admire the vacant but still proud storefronts, I can’t help but think of Sylvester Briley “S.B.” Poston. Every brick and beam of the old business district owes its existence to him. He didn’t just help build Johnsonville—he literally owned much of it, from the bank that held residents’ savings to the hardware store where farmers bought their plows. To appreciate just how deeply this one man shaped a town, it helps to start at the beginning. From Half Moon to the Pee Dee Poston was born on May 20, 1867 (some sources say 1869) in the Half Moon community along the Lynches River, the son of turpentine and farm operators Simon P. Poston and Sarah Frances Bartell. He grew up learning how to tap pines for sap, plant cotton and handle customers. By the turn of the 20th century he’d launched the S.B. Poston Compa...
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The New Theater: A Hub of Entertainment and Memories

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The New Theater as it would have looked when in operation.  This image is a reconstruction created by Josh Dukes and is based on color photo fire images of the structur e The New Theater in Johnsonville, often referred to interchangeably over the years as the Prosser Theater—was owned and operated by Chives Prosser (1899-1982), a central figure in the town’s early business and entertainment industry.  Prosser Eldridge Franklin "E.F." Prosser (a businessman in his own right) and Lillian Camillia Cox Prosser.  Chives Prosser, early 1920s Prosser served as Johnsonville’s postmaster from 1920 to 1925, then launched his theater  business in 1925 during the silent film era.  This first Prosser Theater was located on the south side of Broadway Street approximately where Jake’s BBQ now stands. This original venue, listed in the theater publication Film Daily Yearbook beginning in 1931, had a reported capacity of 200 seats—a figure that remained consistent in issues of...
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