Caesar’s Head State Park

Caesar’s Head State Park is in Greenville County, South Carolina, and is well known for the granitic gneiss outcropping above sea level. that is 3208 ft. which gives the park its name. You can see all the way to North Carolina and Georgia if the atmosphere is just right. Caesar’s Head is part of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness and connects to Jones Gap State Park. There are 13,000 acres at Caesar’s Head State Park.

This park was one of the first places my boyfriend (who is now my husband) took me on a date in the early 1980s. The view is outstanding and when we have visitors from other places, we like to take them there.

As early as 1825, a state engineer referred to Caesar’s Head as a mass of granite. In 1848, Benjamin Hagood, a former state senator bought 2400 acres around Caesar’s Head and built a cottage and a hotel. The hotel closed in 1862. When Hagood died, the property went to his daughter Eliza and her husband. During the Civil War, many Confederate Army deserters stayed in the area. In 1876, Eliza Miles and her husband ran a health resort on the mountain.

In 1880, the hotel was sold, and the inn and cottages were enlarged but the owner was unable to pay off the mortgage. In 1885, the property went back to the Miles. In 1897, the Miles gave the property to Furman University in exchange for annuity and room and board for the rest of their lives. Furman sold the property in 1924 to a company interested in building summer homes. The hotel was still in business, but the land developer hit hard times during the Great Depression. Pet and Tom Marchant bought the property in 1946 and added tennis courts and a pool. In 1954, the hotel, cottage, servant quarters, and the original Hagood house all burned down. South Carolina’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism got the land from various owners between 1976 and 1986.

Image: https://rvpoints.com/media/reviews/photos/original/27/5f/fc/Caesars-Head-State-Park-photo-by-Perry-Baker-7-1397225718.jpg