Newry Folk Festival - 12 June 2010
Everyone is invited to join in celebrating Newry’s anniversary! The 7th Annual Newry Folk Festival will again
be held this year on June 12th from 10am until 4pm. The festival is presented by the Oconee Heritage Center and the Newry Village Community.
See photos of the 2009 Newry Festival event
| Newry Festival Stage Schedule |
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10:00 |
Shades of Blue |
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| 11:00 |
Mike Eades & the Battle Creek Boys |
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| 11:50 |
Irish Folk Dance |
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| Noon |
The Greenville Textile Heritage Band |
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| 1:00 |
Bill Lowe & Cripple Creek |
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| 2:00 |
Banjo, Fiddle & Guitar Competition |
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| 3:00 |
The Oconee County Bluegrass Boys |
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Festivities include craft vendors, musical entertainment, food and much more. The day’s events will again include a banjo, fiddle and guitar competition from 2:00 – 3:00pm on the main stage. The competition will include a youth (ages 14 and under) and adult category for each instrument.
Participants may register prior to the event at the Oconee Heritage Center or in Newry on the day of the festival. Early registration may be done at the Oconee Heritage Center in person, by calling 864.638.2224
or by emailing info@oconeeheritagecenter.org.
There is no registration fee.
First prize in each category will be $75 with a second prize of $25. Each instrument will have an adult
(ages 15 and up) category and a youth (ages 14 and under) category. First prize in each of the youth categories is $20.
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 Banjo, Fiddle & Guitar Competition Rules
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| Exhibitor Contract / Info |
Food Vendor Contract / /Info |
Non-Profit Exhibitor Contract |
Newry was the first textile village established in Oconee County. Beginning in 1893, the founder, William Ashmead Courtenay of Charleston, named this community after his ancestral home in Ireland.
The festival will mark the 116th anniversary of the Newry Mill in that on June 14, 1894, water first turned one of the mill power wheels. The mill was in full operation by the end of that year. At about the same time as the mill, the company office and store were built. Mr. Courtenay soon built a two-story mansion, which he called “Innisfallen” after the family estate in Ireland. The plant was originally operated by hydro power, but c.1905, steam engines and boilers increased production.
The workers of Courtenay Manufacturing Company had access to housing, a church, school, store, boarding house, doctor, cotton gin, jail and a piped sewage system. When construction was complete, there were about 115 houses, most of which were “saltbox” style, with two-stories and a slanting rear roof. Most were designed to house two families.
By 1903, the mill was running 635 looms. Workers filled many different jobs including picker, opener and slasher in the carding room; spooler and doffer in the spinning room; battery filler, drawing-in, fixer and warp tender in the weaving room and stitcher, inspector and folder in the finishing room. |
 Newry Mill today
Newry today remains alone and nearly
unchanged; few structures have been added since
its beginning and only a few lost. Its founder
and first residents would have little trouble
recognizing their old town. All around Newry
'Modernity' continues to march over the land
with all its trappings of shopping centers,
traffic, sub-divisions and noise that are
sweeping away the existence and memory of old
buildings and places. Indeed, the simpler,
small town and rural way-of-life which existed
when 'Cotton was King' is nearly gone.
Newry is located approximately one mile from Rochester Highway near Seneca, SC. For more information including vendor applications, please contact the Oconee Heritage Center at (864) 638-2224
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Pelzer and Newry Southern Historic Connections
Pelzer, South Carolina was the first place in the world to have electricity generated at a distance specifically for manufacturing purposes. A group of elite gentlemen from Charleston, SC gathered together in the late 1880s to form the Pelzer Manufacturing Company. They were successful and built Pelzer Mills 1, 2, 3, and 4. The President and Treasurer for many years was “Captain” Ellison Adger Smyth. The other gentlemen involved were Francis J. Pelzer, William Lebby, Wm. B. Smith, David Lopez, Grange Simmons Coffin, Augustine T. Smythe, and William Ashmead Courtenay.
William Ashmead Courtenay was a remarkable man. He was born in Charleston on February 4, 1831, and later served in the War between the States as a Captain of the Washington Light Infantry. He made his mark profoundly as Mayor of Charleston beginning in 1879. During his term served, and among other accomplishments, he suggested the initiation of the SC Historical Commission, which later in 1967, became the SC Department of Archives and History. Courtenay lived in Newry and later removed to Columbia. William Ashmead Courtenay, also founder of Newry, replaced Mr. David Lopez as a board member of the Pelzer Manufacturing Company when Mr. Lopez passed away. Courtenay certainly made his mark in Pelzer, and through that connection, a street in Pelzer was named in his honor. Courtney ST has been included within the current proposed boundaries of the Pelzer national historic district. Courtenay's impressive list of accomplishments most likely had great influence in the board's decision on a replacement for Mr. Lopez. Monuments have been erected, papers written, and books published regarding this remarkable man, William Ashmead Courtenay, and we add our voice of historical appreciation by celebrating in the Newry Folk Festival 2009. Please join us on June 13 from 10am until 4pm in Newry, SC. The Newry Folk Festival is proudly sponsored by the Newry Village Community and the Oconee Heritage Center. For more information call us at 8649478817 or email info@historicpelzer.org
Community of Pelzer Historical Society
www.historicpelzer.org
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