Hurricane Matthew made landfall in 2016, permanently damaging Elliot Millpond.
Duckweed blankets the Elliott Millpond in Halfway Swamp, concealing a fishing spot that was once worth five dollars for a day of baiting the hook. The Clarendon County community of Rimini is home to the former mill house, which served as the Rimini Fish Camp and still touts its prices for fishing and boating in the cypress swamp.
The sawmill operated here by the Elliott family closed in 1945, about a decade after Santee Cooper forced the family to relinquish 300 acres of their property to build Lake Marion.
Interestingly, Halfway Swamp was the site of a Revolutionary War ambush in 1780 near Elliott Millpond. General Francis Marion and his brigade hid here and ambushed British troops on their way to Camden.
The family currently operates Elliott’s Landing and Campground, still selling bait and tackle and renting handmade cypress boats for $2 a day.
Frequent contributor Mike Stroud shares these words regarding the pond and its venerable fish camp: “Here is one of my most favorite spots in South Carolina. The long-forgotten Fish Camp still wears its price list at the mill house: ‘Pond Fishing $5 per person, Boat Launching $2’. The east side is a cypress swamp – serene, other than the occasional frog leaping about the duck weed. An alligator cruises the pond side, and more frogs and turtles can be seen sunning themselves, or on one occasion, crossing the road. Photos can not capture the real beauty and colors that are seen here. I stop here each time I pass through. Elliott’s Landing and Campground is to the west, a mile or so on the banks of Lake Marion.”
I was born in 1928, ten years before the construction of Santee-Cooper in 1939. My dad and I fished Elliot’s Mill Pond before 1939 AND after 1939. Santee was/is great fishing but nothing was like Elliot’s Mill Pond for bream fishing with a cane pole, catawba (sp?) worms, a porcupine quill float, and a wooden boat. My dad taught me to paddle the boat with a short “bream” paddle, leaving the paddle in the water on one side of the boat at all times — except when the quill turned up and then went under. I could paddle the boat and fish at the same time. There was no (or little) duck weed when I fished the pond, but the trees were thick and made casting a bit difficult except in a few open areas near the center of the pond.
I have never bream-fished a pond that I enjoyed more than Elliot’s Mill Pond.
Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for sharing them.
Thank you for that update. I have my fingers and toes crossed, hoping the SC Govt. will recognise the value of this beautiful historic area.
Sara Elliott Sommerville
Correction… Apparently the bridge is still intact, but the dam is not. When we visited a couple of months ago, we had to go round and round the mulberry bush to get to
Elliotts Landing to visit my family. You can still get there with good directions, by contacting Elliotts Landing. They'll be glad to help.
Sara Elliott Sommerville
Mike Stroud's photos of my family's mill pond and grist mill are beautiful!
Unfortunately, the bridge was destroyed in the recent storms and flooding. The road is impassable, and the pond water is very low. Apparently, there is some doubt as to when or if the bridge will be restored, and the road opened. The mill and bridge date back to the American Revolution. The Old River Road connects Rimini to Summerton, St. Paul, Santee and beyond. I hope the SC Department of Transportation will be able to solve the problem soon.
Sara Elliott Sommerville
Author: "Death at the Old Mill Pond'
and two other Zanna Armstrong Mysteries