In the spring of 1882, the Augusta and Knoxville railroad track was completed the town of McCormick.  This allowed travel between Augusta and McCormick via rail which brought merchants and businesses to town.

William J. Connor and his wife, Mary Keturah Connor came to McCormick in 1893.  William was a business man who bought the Connor Hotel for his wife.  It is said he did this as he felt that it would give Mary Keturah something to do.  The Connor Hotel was a wooden building which burned circa 1898.  It was rebuilt of brick and finished circa 1910.  At some point the hotel was renamed the Keturah Hotel.  It may be that it was renamed when it was rebuilt.  This brick building is the same one that now houses the McCormick Arts Council at the Keturah (MACK).  Pictures of the original Connor Hotel and the rebuilt Keturah Hotel are below. 

Additional businessmen and customers came to the Keturah Hotel once Congress approved the 1944 legislation authorizing the construction of the Clarks Hill Project.  The first Clarks Hill recreation facilities were constructed between 1946 and 1954.  The Water Resources Development Act  of 1986 Section 864 added recreation and fish and wildlife management as project purposes. 

Also, below are pictures of Mr. William J. Connor and his wife Mary Keturah.  There is a note on the back of the original picture of Mary Keturah in the automobile stating she never knew how to drive but she wanted her picture taken behind the wheel of an automobile.

Please open the next photo gallery document to see pictures of Mrs. Miriam Patricia Kohle, Keturah's granddaughter, and her decendents. 

The McCormick Arts Council was initiated in 1984 with an opening in December, 1984 at the Keturah Hotel with a charter of incorporation and a grant from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Commission.  On March 7, 1985, the town of McCormick and McCormick County officially purchased the Keturah Hotel and its grounds for the MACK.