When you step inside Georgetown County's charming museum, you're a temporary local. You might have never heard of Dr. Frances Doyle, and you might not have known that the 1923 film Pied Piper Malone was filmed in Georgetown, but the museum's collection is put together with such warmth and pride that Georgetown's stories seem like ones passed down from your own grandmother.
Georgetown is rightfully proud of Doyle. In 1949, she graduated from the Medical College of South Carolina and became one of the area's first female physicians. She became a pediatrician in Georgetown, and the museum's exhibit highlights the important role she played in the community, not only in keeping its children healthy but also in breaking down boundaries and opening people's minds.
As for Pied Piper Malone, it was a 1923 silent film by Booth Tarkington - shot on location in Georgetown - about a young man torn between his love of the sea and his love for the charming local school marm. Paramount Pictures brought in most of the actors by train from California, but a few lucky local children were chosen to be extras in the film. The museum uses motion picture stills and local memories of the film to bring you back to a time before "talkies."
Perhaps one of the most interesting features at the museum is its Oral History collection, a series of videotaped interviews with senior citizens who grew up in Georgetown. Make sure to watch the first video, Memories of Georgetown, which is an interview with Patricia Davis Doyle, President Emeritus of the Georgetown Historical Society.
For days and hours of operation, as well as additional information to plan your visit go to Georgetown County Museum.
