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Propeller of the Pee Dee.

Confederate Tributes to the Pee Dee

Field review by the editors.

Florence, South Carolina

The Pee Dee was a steam-powered gunboat -- 170 feet long -- built near Florence by the Confederates during the Civil War. It took three years to complete. The ship made one brief trip, was brought back to its shipbuilding yard, and was then torched and sunk by its crew to prevent its capture by the Union Army.

That's not much to brag about, but the United Daughters of the Confederacy thought otherwise. The ship's two big iron propellers were salvaged in 1926, mounted on blocks as outdoor memorials in 1928, and joined by a tombstone-like monument that was carved with a likeness of the Pee Dee. The inscriptions on all of these memorials are heavy on spin and image management. "Let these relics of a noble past forever testify to the patriotism of the ninety heroic souls who manned this cruiser," reads one chiseled into the base of one of the propellers. "No nation rose so white and fair, none fell so pure of crime," insists the tombstone.

Pee Dee Monument.

In 1954 what remained of the Pee Dee was salvaged and displayed at a local attraction named Confederateland. When it went out of business, the ship's boiler wound up at South of the Border. The boiler eventually disappeared as well, and all that was left were the propellers.

Confederate Tributes to the Pee Dee

Florence County Museum

Address:
111 W. Cheves St., Florence, SC
Directions:
Florence County Museum. Downtown. On the northwest corner of W. Cheves and S. Dargan Sts, which is one block north and east of the intersection of US Hwy 76/W. Palmetto St. and US Hwy 52/S. Irby St. The tributes are behind the museum, in the fenced-in courtyard.
Hours:
T-Sa 10-5, Su 2-5 Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Admission:
Free, donations welcomed.
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Nearby Offbeat Places

Atom Bomb FragmentsAtom Bomb Fragments, Florence, SC - < 1 mi.
Grave of Woman Who Pretended to be a ManGrave of Woman Who Pretended to be a Man, Florence, SC - 1 mi.
Bomb Crater MarkerBomb Crater Marker, Florence, SC - 6 mi.
In the region:
Dillon Fence, Dillon, SC - 29 mi.

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