Article By Evan Smoak
Photography by Sean Smith
Published by The Journal on August 23, 2025
SIX MILE — For the second year in a row, Six Mile used its annual banquet to announce an exciting revelation.
The town, in conjunction with the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce, hosted its second annual “State of Six Mile” event earlier this week.
During festivities, Mayor James Atkinson unveiled plans for the town’s new downtown community park and community park annex.
The plans for the park, which is set to be built behind Stoddard Pavillion on Main Street, will include more parking, an amphitheater, pickleball courts, basketball courts and an update to the existing walking trail. It will also include picnic and lawn game areas.
The community park annex is slated to be built behind Town Hall and will include signage from the Six Mile Academy, which previously stood on the property, as well as additional picnic and grilling areas.
“We had an extensive effort to actually get input from people in terms of what they wanted there,” Atkinson said. “We tried to deliver what they wanted.”
Atkinson also delivered his “State of Six Mile” address Thursday.
“It’s great to be mayor here,” he said. “You have so many people doing so much and helping you so much. Our goal is to control the destiny of Six Mile and keep Six Mile — Six Mile. We want to control change and plan ahead, not fail to plan and let change overtake us…Our small town should be a community where we support each other, treat each other with respect, exemplify civility, courtesy and unity, mold our children to grow in good systems, maintain fiscal responsibility and retain our unique town character, green space and history.”
He also recognized two winners during the event.
The town chose The Stillwater Group LLC as its “emerging business of the year” and Pickens County Meals on Wheels as the town’s “nonprofit of the year.”
Both received certificates for their achievements and Meals on Wheels received an undisclosed amount of money.
‘Spirit of the people here’
The event featured two keynote speakers, the first being Allie Sloan, executive director of the Community Foundation of Greater Clemson.
She used her time to focus on the importance of the town’s Bryson Children’s Nature Walk.
“Six Mile is a town that has always been defined, not just by the geography here, but by the spirit of the people here,” Sloan said. “I’m here today representing the Community Foundation of Greater Clemson, and one of my favorite things about my job is getting to be a bridge between community dreams and resources that help make them possible.”
Sloan used her background to explain what this project means to her.
“I grew up in a very small town that mimics Six Mile in a lot of ways,” she said. “Some memories just can’t be made indoors — some of them have to be made outside in nature.”
Sloan also said that CFGC is the financial sponsor of the Bryson project.
“Through our fiscal sponsorship, the project operates under the community foundation’s charitable umbrella,” she said. “That means donations can be made to the project as if it were a 501c, giving donors their full charitable deduction. The funds are managed by the foundation ensuring transparency, proper accounting and stewardship. One of my favorite parts of it, the project leaders can focus on building and bringing this to life while we handle the administrative and compliance work behind the scenes.”
The project is currently underway with signage recently being installed and more trees to be planted in November.
‘Maybe because we didn’t know’
The second keynote speaker was Dennis Chastain, a local historian who educated attendees on the history of the town prior to its settlement.
Famously, the Cherokee Path, a major roadway used by Native Americans and Colonists alike, ran right through what is now the town.
Chastain told a story during his presentation about informing the now-Mayor of this fact.
“I said, ‘James, it really surprises me that you all don’t make a big deal about the fact that Main Street in Six Mile is the old Cherokee path’ and he said, ‘Maybe it’s because we didn’t know.’”
Chastain went on to say he was later invited to speak to Town Council and the same night of his presentation to it, council approved signage recognizing this historical fact.
“(The Cherokee Path) is a part of the legacy and the history of Six Mile,” Chastain said.
He also spoke about its importance.
“It’s an ancient Indian path, centuries old, and ran all the way from Fort Loudon in Tennessee to King Street in Charleston,” Chastain said. “Thousands of British troops were marching up and down this thing over the centuries and for about 150 years, anything to happen in the interior of colonial South Carolina, happened along the Cherokee Path. It was a big deal.”
He also touched on the challenges the town will face in the future.
“The next chapter in Six Mile history is going to be dominated by one issue, balancing inevitable growth while maintaining the area’s rural character,” Chastain said.
He said despite the rural description of Pickens County, 92 percent of all parcels in the county are 10 acres or less.
“That makes preserving open space of paramount importance,” Chastain said. “That’s the only way to have growth and to accommodate growth that maintains the rural character.”
