By Hannah Gail Flatt
A statue commemorating Revolutionary War heroine Dicey Langston was unveiled in Travelers Rest June 26.
“She was not a general, she was not a politician. She was a young girl. And yet, when the moment demanded courage, she chose action over fear,” said Travelers Rest Mayor Brandy Amidon in a speech during the ceremony.
As a teenager, Laodicea “Dicey” Langston spied on loyalists in the Upstate during the Revolutionary War. She once learned of a planned attack and carried the message several miles to save a community near modern day Clinton. Tales of her bravery have resonated through the years, including at one point defending her disabled father from a group attacking their home by standing in front of their weapons. A historic marker about Langston sits near her home along Tigerville Road near Travelers Rest, which she shared with husband Thomas Springfield.
Langston’s descendants have carried her legacy through the generations. Learning about her story is “simply a part of growing up” in Travelers Rest, Amidon said.
The Langston statue is located next to Spring Park Inn at 301 Old Buncombe Road. In 2020, Nell Anderson Gibson donated the inn and the surrounding 20 acres to the Travelers Rest Historical Society. The historical society plans to create a botanical garden, called the Heritage Garden, to serve as an educational resource.
Though the historical society dreamed of memorializing Dicey and her legacy, the cost of a statue inhibited plans. After a long fundraising campaign, in which even students from Langston Middle School participated, artist Nick Ring was chosen to create the memorial.
Langston is depicted posed in action, symbolically moving toward the future with fierce, focused eyes. Amidon said she hopes every girl who sees the statue will see herself in Langston.
“I hope she sees strength, I hope she sees bravery, I hope she sees purpose, and I hope she believes that she can make her own mark in the world,” Amidon said.
