Elloree comes from a Native American word meaning "home that I love." It's clear from a visit to the Elloree Heritage Museum that the town is indeed loved by the people who call it home and that they take pride in its history.
At the start of the tour, Elloree's founder, William J. Snider, greets you before sending you to tour a re-creation of Cleveland Street as it was in 1900. The museum itself is on Cleveland Street, where many of the original town buildings still stand. Beyond Cleveland Street displays include a cotton gin, exhibits on rural life and the meager cabin in which William Snider was born and more.
The Elloree Heritage Museum is enhanced by its deep sense of place. This is not a museum that makes sweeping declarations about the history of the south. It is truly the specific history of this rural town - and the people who built it -- that is on display.
One of the museum's best features is its oral histories. Press a button or pick up a telephone near several exhibits and you will hear residents' first hand accounts of living in Elloree, sometimes in their own voice. In one room, the son of Jewish immigrants talks about working in the town's textile store and driving an hour to Columbia to pick up special kosher foods for Passover. In another, a man recalls the ritual of slaughtering pigs with his father on their farm.
For days and hours of operation, as well as other information to plan your visit, go to www.elloreemuseum.org.
