In the 1890s, William E. Touchstone and his wife, Matilda, built a quaint, two-story house overlooking the Reedy River.
At the time, not very many buildings were on the south side of the river off of Main Street in Greenville. Chicora College, a Presbyterian women’s school, had just opened on “McBee Terrace” across Main Street a year or so before Touchstone built his house. Touchstone was the supervisor of the Camperdown Mill across the river, so the home’s location was convenient.
The majority of the other Camperdown workers lived in the mill village housing off Falls Street. Camperdown Mill closed just as Touchstone’s home was built and he moved to Alabama while his family stayed in the home for three more years. Right next to the home, Furman University students would cut over to Main Street for many years on a path that led up the hill from the school.
Camperdown reopened in the first decade of the 20th century and the Touchstone house had people moving in and out. A.R. Black lived in it from 1899 to 1900, I.C. Newton in 1901 and 1902, and G.W. Charlotte lived in the house in 1903. One of the later renters, Charles Curry, changed the home into Curry’s gas station when auto-related businesses were taking over the majority of commercial buildings in the West End. Later it was People’s Service Station and finally a Spur gas station before closing around 1967.
In the mid-1970s plans were put in motion to begin revitalizing Falls Park as well as the Touchstone cottage. The Carolina Foothills Garden Club took over the house in 1976 when it was in very poor shape, as seen in the 1970s photo.
Later the home was renovated to what is believed to be near its original look and served as the home of the Greenville Artists Guild and the Metropolitan Arts Council. When the beautification of Falls Park was underway, the Touchstone house was an integral part of the plan as a “gateway” to the historic park site. Karen Berni and others put in many hours of work and interest in bringing the house back to its former glory.
The home is now known as Falls Cottage. For years it operated as a restaurant called Cottage Cuisine and more recently as Mary’s Restaurant. While it is empty today, it will someday again be in use for the community. It is the only 19th century home remaining on Main Street. #greenvillethenandnow
John M. Nolan is owner of Greenville History Tours (greenvillehistorytours.com) and author of “A Guide to Historic Greenville, SC” and “Lost Restaurants of Greenville, SC.”
