After leaving the Old Bluff church on Friday, we headed north to check on a cache at another place that has a little history, and beautiful views.
Rhodes Pond
The neatest part of this place, is the Cypress Trees that are just everywhere.
Some history:
"Rhodes Pond was built in the 1700s by a dam crossing the Black River. The original spillway consisted of logs pegged together. The dam was earthen."During the 1800s, it was known as Smith’s Mill Pond and was part of the John Smith plantation. The Civil War’s Battle of Averasboro occurred on the Smith plantation. A historical monument and museum of the battle is just a few miles away.
But the pond has its own history. Sherman’s men marched through the area, sparing homes but picking up livestock, poultry, and dry goods as they went. Before they reached Averasboro, a skirmish between Confederate General Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry and the cavalry unit was fought at the pond – then called Smith’s Pond.
After the war, it is rumored that the Rhodes’ family purchased the property for a "gray mule and 40 bushels of corn." The Rhodes Mill House was used as a post office from 1882 until 1900. During the early 1900s it was owned in divided interests by prominent businessmen. From the 1920s until 1964 this property was known as Hollands’ Lake.
It wasn’t until 1964 that the pond was purchased by Jerry S. Honeycutt who dubbed his family’s lake Rhodes Pond Fish Camp.
Rhodes Pond Fish Camp has a strong reputation as a well-loved fishing spot. Historical men – fishermen – such as the famous General William C. Lee, "Father of the Airborne," were dedicated visitors to the pond."
The dam is now concrete.
Look at the ice back there on the water.
Another very cool thing about this pond, is the "land bridge" that goes out into it. Since the state of NC took over, they built a little pier/deck at the end, so you have something nice to stand on.
When we lived at the farm house, we loved to come here, and the boys loved the fishing.
Or goof off on…
Do you see something strange here?
This was actually one of my sneaky geocaches. It is a "micro" in that the only thing inside is a log for people to sign when they find it. Geocaches can be about anything you can imagine. They can be huge, they can be tiny. They can be made out of anything the imagination can come up with. This one was simply a sealable plastic bag, covered with camouflage duct tape, and hidden in vines on a tree trunk.
This was walking down the land bridge. The elder two kiddos were checking out a tree that had been struck by lightning.
Another cool feature out here, was these.
You kind of have to watch your step at times, because these little stump things are everywhere.
They remind me of little garden gnomes.
Where’s your favorite out-of-the-way fishing hole?
