Legends of Molly's Rock

Tucked away in a peaceful glen on the Enoree Ranger District sits the Molly’s Rock Picnic Area. It has wonderful shade trees, a historic picnic shelter, a pond with a wood deck overlooking, and a grassy field for romping in.

 

But where’s the rock? And who was Molly?

 

The rock, it turns out, is on a nearby piece of private land not visible from the recreation site. But so colorful were the local legends surrounding it, that the picnic area was renamed Molly's Rock (originally Suber recreation area) to honor the local landmark and its mysterious history.

 

One legend holds that Molly was an Indian maiden who played on the rock and watched travelers as they passed. She fell in love with a revolutionary war soldier, but her disapproving father, the chief, sent her lover away. It is said that Molly left her father’s home broken-hearted and never to return. She took shelter at the rock, gathering her food from the forest, until she died. Some people claim they felt Molly’s presence as they approached the rock..

 

A twist on the legend paints Molly as a teen of European descent who would sit on the rock and wave to civil war soldiers, both rebel and yankee, on the march from the coast to the high country. A confederate soldier, fleeing Sherman’s army as it torched Columbia, claimed she was an angel who healed a wound in his side.

 

A preacher fell in love with her, says one tale, but he came to believe she was a witch as she grew older!

 

A carpetbagger who made her acquaintance described her as a mature, loving, but half-witted woman.

 

And then there’s Marley, a British captain for whom, some claim, the rock was named. Details are scarce, but a marker near the rock reads “Marley’s Rock.”

 

Whatever the real story, the quiet little picnic area pays tribute to them all as the namesake of Molly’s Rock.

 

The stark beauty of the rock outcrop--as “Molly” might have seen it. Sadly, the rocks today are defaced with spray paint and signatures.