Looking Back

About the Book

This book chronicles the day-to-day life in Oconee County, South Carolina, especially Walhalla and surrounding areas, from 1950 to 1955, as reported in the Keowee Courier, a small weekly newspaper located in Walhalla. There’s a lot about local government in action, local sports, the ever-continuing war on moonshine liquor manufacturers, social gatherings, etc. The Keowee Courier, founded in 1849, is upstate South Carolina’s second oldest newspaper, second only to the Abbeville County Press and Banner/Abbeville Medium, which was founded in 1844. In fact, the Courier is the oldest newspaper that has had the same name since its inception.

About the Author

Early in his career as a reporter, photographer, and editor for the Keowee Courier, Ashton Hester became fascinated by the volumes containing issues from past years of the paper, which was founded in 1849. He began compiling a weekly column containing news highlights from the corresponding dates 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, etc., years ago. He first titled the column From the Past but eventually changed it to Looking Back, which is also the title of this book and three previous books highlighting the years 1888, 1907, 1911, and 1914; the years 1915, 1918, 1924, and 1935; and the World War II years, 1941–1945.