Sources & Credits

This interactive timeline tells the story of Chick Springs — a mineral spring in Taylors, South Carolina, that has been a gathering place for more than two centuries. From Cherokee knowledge of the spring's healing properties, through a grand antebellum resort, fires, floods, a military academy, a swimming pool, decades of private obscurity, and finally a community-led acquisition in 2024.

The timeline is a project of Taylors TownSquare, the community organization that now stewards the 8.62-acre Chick Springs property.

• Flynn, Jean Martin. A Short History of Chick Springs. Travelers Rest, SC: Loftis Printing Company, 1972. Reprint with new preface, August 1977. The foundational reference for this timeline — commissioned by Taylors Garden Club for the June 1972 historical marker placement. 60 footnotes citing deeds, newspapers, manuscripts, and the Bull Account.
• Flynn, Jean Martin. An Account of Taylors, South Carolina 1817–1994. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1995. 19 chapters with extensive Chick Springs content (Ch. 1, Ch. 14, Ch. 15).
• Flynn, Jean Martin. History of the First Baptist Church of Taylors, South Carolina. Clinton, SC: Jacobs Brothers, 1964. Chapter 1: “The Chick's Springs Area” (pp. 1–15) — Flynn's earliest Chick Springs writing.
• Bainbridge, Judith T. Greenville's Heritage. Greenville, SC: J & B Publications, 2006. Section: “Dr. Chick's Spa,” pp. 69–73.
• Batson, Mann. A History of the Upper Part of Greenville County, South Carolina. Taylors, SC: Faith Printing Co., 1993. 11 thematic sections on Chick Springs and Taylors.
• Huff, Archie Vernon. Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont. 1995.

Early Scientific & Geological Authorities

• Drayton, Governor John. Description of the sulphur spring, 1802. The earliest published documentation of the spring.
• Ramsay, David. History of South Carolina. 1809.
• Mills, Robert. Statistics of South Carolina. Charleston: Hurlburt & Lloyd, 1826. p. 48: Spring description, mineral content, curative properties.

Contextual Sources on Resort Culture

• Lewis, Charlene Boyer. Ladies and Gentlemen on Display: Planter Society at the Virginia Springs, 1790–1860. University of Virginia Press, 2001.
• Chambers, Thomas A. Drinking the Waters: Creating an American Leisure Class at Nineteenth-Century Mineral Springs. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2002.

Land Records & Deeds

• Greenville County Register of Deeds. Deed books, plat books, and index volumes from 1831 to present. The complete chain of title — 29 documented transactions from the Hananiah Ray land grant (1817) through the Taylors TownSquare acquisition (2024) — was reconstructed from these records.
• Hananiah Ray Land Grant. Governor Andrew Pickens, November 1817. 692 acres. Surveyed by John Young.
• 1857 Mortgage — Chick Brothers to Talbird & Henery. $15,000 sale secured by 12 named enslaved persons: Stephen, Diana, Charlotte, John, Charles, Grace, Matilda, Robert, Grace (cook), Rose, James, and John (bricklayer).

Court Cases

• Chick Springs Water Co. v. State Highway Dept. SC Supreme Court, 159 S.C. 481, 157 S.E. 842 (1931). Highway 29 construction; inadequate culvert; Sept 1929 flood. Reversed Judge W.H. Townsend's demurrer.
• Chick Springs Water Co. v. State Highway Dept. SC Supreme Court, 178 S.C. 415 (1935). Second action based on August 1934 flood damage.
• Greer Bank and Trust Co. v. Steedly Clinic and Sanitarium (1932). Receivership. Judge M.M. Mann appointed E.C. Bailey as receiver.
• Receivers of Peoples State Bank of SC v. Steedly Clinic and Sanitarium U.S. District Court, Western District of SC, 1937. Order of Foreclosure; sale for $20,000.

Corporate Records

• Steedly Clinic and Sanitarium — Corporate Charter. Commission issued by State of South Carolina, March 14, 1919. $160,000 capital stock.
• J.A. Bull Grocery Company — Bankruptcy. U.S. District Court, Western District of SC, 1924. Receiver U.C. Bentley appointed. Assets liquidated June–July 1924.
• J.A. Bull Estate Appraisal. Filed July 1949, Office of Judge of Probate. Estate valued at $133,381.67.

More than 140 newspaper articles from 1847 to 2022 were consulted, primarily through Newspapers.com. Key publications include:

• The Greenville News (1901–2012) — the primary local newspaper of record. Coverage includes resort advertisements, fire reports, Steedly Clinic founding, Bull grocery and bankruptcy proceedings, pool openings, hotel demolition, drowning incidents, obituaries, and retrospective features.
• The State (Columbia, SC) — statewide coverage and AP wire pickups (1906–1940).
• Yorkville Enquirer (York, SC) — most detailed account of the 1907 hotel fire, describing the E-shaped layout and $40,000 loss.
• The Gaffney Ledger — Steedly cancer clinic announcement (1925) and obituary (1932).
• The Charleston Daily Courier (1847) — Dr. Burwell Chick's death notice, reprinted from the Greenville Mountaineer. The earliest known newspaper coverage of Chick Springs.
• Greenville Journal (2022) — John M. Nolan's “Glimpses of Greenville” column on the grocery trade and J.A. Bull's place in it.
• Additional papers consulted: The Atlanta Journal, The Index-Journal (Greenwood), Fort Mill Times, The Beaufort Gazette, Rock Hill Herald, The Watchman and Southron (Sumter), Sun-News (Myrtle Beach), The Times and Democrat (Orangeburg).

• Sullivan, Dolly (Mrs.). Interview, Clingstone magazine. Nurse trained at the hospital; recalled 85 bedrooms and Spanish architecture.
• Bull, Margaret. Oral history, The Greenville News, May 18, 1977. Dr. Chick's hopes for the waters; hotel construction details; ballroom and orchestra.
• Bull, Daniel Henry Jr. Interview by Jimmy Cornelison, The Greenville News, August 3, 1998. Youngest grandson of J.A. Bull Sr.; property tour and family history.
• Nelson, Jim. The Greenville News, September 5, 1983. Musician who performed at Chick Springs Hotel in 1929 at age 12.
• Medlin, Cindy. Email to Taylors TownSquare, March 2026. Taylors resident who swam at the pool in 1976–1977; collected hotel china, bottles, and sanitarium materials.

• Chick Springs Historical Society. The majority of photographs on this site come from the CSHS archive, collected and preserved by Cary Hall, Keith Cunningham, Bill Wilson, and others.
• Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division (Cherokee territorial maps, Mills Atlas); Panoramic Photographs Collection (Camp Sevier, photographer J.R. Peden); Presidential portraits (FDR, 1935). All images free to use with no known restrictions.
• Greenville County Library System. Digital Collections — curated photographs and Bull Family collection.
• The Greenville News. Staff photographs, notably the March 10, 1940 hotel demolition photograph by Simpson.
• Images of America: Greer. Historic postcard reproductions (~1900 hotel, Chick Springs Lake, 1921 hotel).
• Preservation South, LLC. Existing Conditions Report photographs (2024).

• Internet Archive (archive.org). Digitized copies of Drayton (1802), Ramsay (1809), and Mills (1826).
• Library of Congress (loc.gov). Maps, panoramic photographs, and portraits.
• CourtListener (courtlistener.com). Full text of Chick Springs Water Co. v. Highway Dept. (1931).
• HMDB.org (Historical Marker Database). Marker 23-13, erected 1972 by Taylors Garden Club. Status: missing.
• FindAGrave. Biographical records for Dr. Burwell Chick (b. 1776, d. 1847) and Robert E. Foil.
• SC Picture Project. Chick Springs article and photographs.

• Taylors TownSquare. The 501(c)(3) community organization that acquired the Chick Springs property in 2024 and produced this timeline.
• Chick Springs Historical Society. Founded 2006 by Cary Hall. 501(c)(3). The primary collectors and preservers of Chick Springs photographs, ephemera, and oral history.
• Naturaland Trust. Led the 2005–2009 conservation campaign. Projects Director: George Schackel.
• Greenville Historical Society. Archival materials and Chick Springs print collection.
• Greer Heritage Museum. Custodians of the Steedly Clinic ledgers (1919–1932).

• The historian: Nearly everything known about the resort era, Alfred Taylor, and the founding families comes from the research of Jean Martin Flynn (1917–2006), who joined Taylors First Baptist Church in 1928 and spent the next seventy-eight years writing the history of Taylors and Chick Springs. “I believe all this history would have been lost if she hadn't been writing,” said church member Francis Alewine.
• Research and content: Alex Reynolds and Stacie Burnett.
• Historical society coordination: Keith Cunningham, Bill Wilson, Fred Bagwell, and Cary Hall.
• Property donation: Curt Niemela and Lily Niemela, through Eero James Real Estate and Investment Company, LLC.
• Acquisition working group: County Councilman Mike Barnes, Curt Niemela, Lily Niemela, and Alex Reynolds.
• Master plan: Arbor Land Design (Jason Smit).
• Existing Conditions Report: Preservation South, LLC.
• Wetlands consultation: Blue Line Enviro (Laura Belanger).
• Legal support: Wyche Law Firm (Tommy Wyche, Frank Holleman).
• Community review: Rosemary Bomar and Suzanne Matson reviewed the timeline and contributed corrections, context, and research leads — including the connection between J.A. Bull's Greenville grocery career and his return to Chick Springs.

This timeline is a living document. If you have photographs, memories, corrections, or family connections to Chick Springs, we would love to hear from you. Contact Taylors TownSquare.