The Fight to Come Back

In January 2005, the Chick Springs Historical Society—led by president Cary Hall with Bill Wilson as vice-president and Keith Cunningham organizing and mapping—began working with George Schackel of Naturaland Trust and attorney Tommy Wyche to pursue a conservation acquisition. Over two years, they developed a strategy centered on a South Carolina Conservation Bank grant application, with legal support from the Wyche firm. The grant was never funded, but the effort established the conservation framework and community network that would persist for nearly two decades—through failed attempts, ownership changes, and shifting strategies—until the property finally came into community hands.

The property transferred from the Bull Estate to Eero James LLC, with park restrictions on certain tracts. A pre-sale survey showed a 6-tract subdivision plan. The clock was ticking on commercial fragmentation.

On July 17, 2024, the deed was executed—Eero James to Taylors TownSquare, 8.62 acres at 53 Dan Bull Road, donated at an appraised value of $85,000 and recorded August 13. The road itself is named for the family that held the land for most of the 20th century. A pre-sale survey had shown a 6-tract subdivision plan; the donation prevented commercial fragmentation. For the first time in decades, the spring was in community hands.