The Hagood Mill Petroglyphs

Walk along Hagood Creek in Pickens, South Carolina, and you’ll find something remarkable

Photo by John Foxe, courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Hagood Mill Historic Site in Pickens, South Carolina, is a treasure on its own—which is why we included it as a stop on our Winter 2025 There and Back Again journey. But walk along Hagood Creek near the mill and you’ll find something possibly even more remarkable.

On a rainy day in 2003, Dr. Tommy Charles, a retired archeologist from the University of South Carolina’s Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, discovered a series of prehistoric petroglyphs carved on sloping granite outcroppings near Hagood Creek. Charles and his colleagues used talcum powder to trace the lines of the carvings.

Over 30 were discovered—some abstract and some shaped like human stick figures. Most experts believe they’re at least 1,000 years old.

See the Petroglyphs

To find the petroglyphs, walk along the interpretive Native Roots Trail, part of an old Native American path. Approximately 75 meters north of the mill you’ll encounter a

boulder that extends across Hagood Creek. Remnants of an 1820s road—considered the first public road from Pickens to Rosman, North Carolina—cover the rock’s westernmost portion. This is where you’ll find the petroglyphs. Eighteen are human figures, predominantly males.

In addition: