A cluster of dwellings built upon the old mill foundation that was used as the Old Mill Playhouse beginning in 1941.

A closer view of the steel overshot wheel that powered the mill in days of yore. Check the photo above. The real water carrier was a penstock coming from halfway up the dam face that supplied the wheel with water flow.

Early morning shot across the pond. August 19,2016

A view of the mill structures from across the face of the mill dam.

The spillway of the impounded waters of King Creek in Highland Lake with the present mill structures beyond.35? 17.10'N, 82? 26.41'W 2,185' elevation

The 1789 land grant to John Earle resulted in the first grist mill to be built at this site. Charles Baring, owner in 1845, built his home overlooking the lake. The former Confederate States Treasury Secretary, George Trenholm, bought the mill and property in 1872. Trenholm sold the same to the Honorable William Aiken, then Governor of South Carolina, after living there only one year.

Nice picture of the falls and lower millpond.

The property was passed to his daughter, Mrs. A. Burnet Rhett, when Aiken left this life. The mill, name changed to Rhett's Mill, located on Rhett's Mill Pond, known as Highland Lake or Madonna Lake probably suffered some disuse and deterioration about this time. Around 1941, Robroy Farquhar got together an acting group called "The Vagabonds" and opened "The Old Mill Playhouse" in the mill with an unknown actress, Kim Novak, in the opening night cast. The mill has been considerably altered since then, but is still very striking in this tranquil setting.

A closer view of the waterfall over the dam.