A 1791 cabin at Hagood Mill caught fire on Sunday morning.
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Mill expected to reopen later this week.
Hagood Mill is closed following a fire in a cabin.
Courtesy photo
The cabin was not a total loss and is expected to be restored.
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Pickens Fire Department and other surrounding departments quickly extinguished the fire.
Courtesy photo
PICKENS — Hagood Mill has been temporarily closed after one of the historic cabins on the site caught fire Sunday morning. Mill Director Billy Crawford was also injured in the fire, suffering first degree burns on his face while attempting to extinguish the flames.
The fire occurred in the Murphy-Hollingsworth Cabin, originally built in 1791, and used by the Mill for hearth cooking demonstrations.
According to Crawford, there had been a hearth cooking demonstration the day before but by 5 p.m., the fire was “totally out.”
“There was a little bit of embers that was left in there, but just a small amount of embers, nothing out of the ordinary, no fire, no smoke coming out of the chimney,” he said. “Sixteen hours later, we get a call saying there’s smoke coming out of the cabin.”
Crawford said he rushed down to the Mill and grabbed a garden hose. The Pickens Fire Department arrived “at about the same time” and put out the fire, he said.
Crawford dismissed rumors he had been seriously injured saying his burns to the side of his face felt “more like a sunburn” and that he was fine.
According to Crawford, some of the singles on the cabin were charred from the heat and the interior logs had some damage but the structure was salvageable.
“We’re going to have to replace part of the floor — the fire department had to take out some of the floor to make sure there were no burning embers underneath but this cabin’s been around for a long time and with the love and support of the community, it’s going to continue to be around.”
According to Crawford, none of the other structures at the Mill were affected by the fire and the site will hopefully reopen later this week.
“We are lucky with the quick response of the Pickens Fire Department and the other surrounding fire departments that it didn’t get much worse,” Crawford said.
Hagood Mill is located on Hagood Branch, earlier known as Jennings Creek, a tributary of the Twelve Mile River. Although mills had existed on the site as early as the 1790s, the current mill was built in 1845 by James Hagood and it remained in the Hagood family and continued to operate until 1966.
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.