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Right across from the Westin Poinsett Hotel in downtown Greenville stands a treasured relic of South Carolina’s historic past. 

I’m speaking of the granite basin that originally stood at the Poinsett Spring on the old nineteenth-century State Road. There are just two inscriptions carved into the rock. The first are the initials J.P., which stands for Joel Poinsett. The other is the year 1820, the year the road was constructed. 

As the nineteenth century dawned in South Carolina, forward-thinking people saw the need for a network of roads and canals to crisscross the state to make it easier for travel and for goods to get to markets. A Board of Public Works was created in 1817, and one of the men appointed to serve on that Board was Joel Roberts Poinsett. Poinsett, a native of Charleston, was no stranger to public service, having served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as U.S. Minister to Mexico. 

While in Mexico, Poinsett became intrigued by a beautiful native red flower that he brought home and cultivated. It would later bear his name and become a beloved part of American Christmases.

A road spanning the state of South Carolina was proposed by Poinsett’s Board in 1818. The State Road, as it was known, would begin in Charleston and end up in the mountains of northern Greenville County. From there, it would cross Saluda Mountain and continue to Asheville. Poinsett would be given the unenviable task of overseeing road construction through the mountains. Probably the best-known remaining remnant of that road is the so-called Poinsett Bridge spanning Gap Creek in northern Greenville County. The beautiful Gothic structure is still a popular tourist attraction and is the oldest standing bridge in South Carolina.

Another prominent feature of this stretch of South Carolina’s first superhighway was Poinsett Spring. You could say it was one of the state’s first rest areas. Just above Traveler’s Rest was a bold spring that flowed alongside the road. At his own expense, Joel Poinsett had the now-famous granite basin designed. The cold spring water flowed from a spout carved in the basin, and it brimmed with the cold, refreshing water. It was a welcome respite for weary travelers who would have been making the trip from the low country for many long, grueling days.

Long after the old road went out of commission, the spring’s owners donated the aged basin to the Poinsett Hotel in Greenville since the hotel and the spring bore the same name. For years, the old granite basin was stored away until some county leaders requested it be put back on display. And so, today you’ll find it alongside Main Street in downtown Greenville directly in front of the iconic Greenville hotel. 

Water no longer flows from its spout, but it vividly recalls a time, now gone, when travelers could quench their thirst as they began the tedious climb up Saluda Mountain.