Collector has discovered coins, arrowheads, glass bottles and more treasures around Spartanburg

Thomas Townsend grew up in Spartanburg and has a passion for history and started collecting artifacts with his grandfather.

"He (Townsend's grandfather) would go out to the field with me, and we'd just find stuff on the ground," said Townsend, 27. "It was the connection I felt, through him, that inspired me."

Townsend and his grandfather gathered a variety of relics, ranging from coins to arrowheads that sparked his interest in the object's history. He continued to grow his collection with old glass bottles he found through old construction sites, abandoned houses and creeks.

"They started to do construction by Vic Bailey's Ford (501 E. Daniel Morgan Ave, Spartanburg), and when they cleared the land I went out there and found broken pieces of glass with 'Spartanburg' written on them," Townsend said. "It sparked my interest, just the diversity of stuff that was produced here."

The simplest locations can serve as a gold mine

Townsend searched through abandoned homes and creeks for relics to add to his collection. before using Facebook. One specific house, located near Woodruff, is where Townsend found most of the gems of his collection.

He and his friends would visit a creek, located behind Vic Bailey Honda, right after heavy storms in hopes that a new gem, such as bottles or other artifacts, would have washed up on the shore.

One of his most prized possessions doesn't come from Spartanburg but instead a bottle from the Duffy Malt Whiskey Company in Rochester, New York. However, he found it in Spartanburg.

"The house has been abandoned since the '50s, and I decided to just poke around because it looked promising," Townsend said. "I saw a bunch of glass sticking out of the ground, and I found this bottle in perfect shape. I tried to locate some tax records to see who owned it (the house), but nothing came up."

In the same location, Townsend found an abundance of neatly preserved papers, dating back to about 120 years ago. The papers range from old clothing catalogs to school pamphlets.

Facebook allows Townsend to grow and share his collection

Townsend was encouraged by a friend to share his collection on the Facebook group, "Remember When, Spartanburg?" His showcase was well received, especially by older generations and history buffs.

Through other collectors of the group, Townsend was able to learn more about the history of his collection. He was even able to obtain new and unique items for his collection. One of his favorite pieces is a Rowe & Rowe medicine bottle that he received through trading.

"In about 1880, there was this building on Morgan Square called the Spartan Inn. The bottom floor had stores that sold medicine, while the top floor was mostly apartments," Townsend said. "In 1910, that building burnt down and there's no remanence of that building whatsoever. I have a friend in Greenville that posted it (the medicine bottle), and I really needed that, so we did some trading."

The Spartan Inn served as a major hotel in Spartanburg, containing six stores and many offices. When the building was built in 1880, it was referred to as The Merchant's Hotel. The building burned down 30 years later on April 22, 1910.

Townsend said his appreciation for glass bottles came from another group on Facebook, "South Carolina Bottle Hunters." Fellow bottle collectors upload and share the newest pieces of their collections. Townsend said the group has allowed him to gain a deeper passion for bottle collecting, as well as learn more about his items.

"It's a bunch of people from South Carolina who appreciate glass," Townsend said. "There is a lot of super, educated people in the group that can tell you something extremely specific about something you'd want to know. That's my information go-to place. They got me exposed to things I didn't even know about, and I just became obsessed with it."

Townsend shares his most memorable pieces

Brad Steinecke, assistant director of Local History at the Spartanburg County Public Library, said Spartanburg has a rich history, especially when it comes to its old bottles.

"Spartanburg has a rich history, both material culture and events that have happened over time," Steinecke said. "Lots of early glass bottles were made here. They’re especially fascinating because bottles are one of those rare tangible artifacts that can be pulled intact from the ground and still look good catching the light after a century or more.

Townsend has a variety of pieces from the Piedmont Steam Bottling Company, that he finds truly memorable. The uniqueness of each bottle, ranging from different styles to colors, is what Townsend believes is the most fascinating.

Piedmont Steam Bottling Company was owned by a man named Simon Becker, and in 1880, he and Leonard Smith opened a confectionary on Morgan Square. In the early 1900s, the two men split and Becker continued to upright the bottling plant.

"There was about 100 things that came from the company in the form of bottles: different types, shapes and colors," Townsend said. "Finding things from this company is next to impossible because there is nowhere else you can dig around."

Townsend showed a light blue bottle that was crafted by the Piedmont Steam Bottling Company. The bottle is quite thin, as the neck held wires and a cork that was used as a seal. The unique purpose of the bottle is what made Townsend cherish it even more.

"This is a pretty rare example, as it's a blob-top bottle," Townsend said. "In about 1907, people used blob-tops and you had to return these and they would take them to be melted down. That's what makes it more difficult to find them. I got this bottle from the same person who traded me the Rowe & Rowe bottle, and I've had this for about four years."

"When I find something that's local and speaks to me, it just brings joy to me to find something that I specifically appreciate in a place with so much stuff," Townsend said. "It feels like a giant puzzle that I'm working and I have to find every piece to it. I'll probably never be done, cause there is so much out there."

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Fascination with history: Spartanburg native collects artifacts