Yemassee plans expanded memorial, garden to mark former barracks location

Yemassee bustled for decades during the 1900s with tens of thousands of Marines passing through by train on their way to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
And then interstates and other modes of transportation changed that. The barracks by the Yemassee Depot, where many Marines stayed briefly during their sojourn to boot camp, were decommissioned in the early 1960s. The building was sold, eventually moved down the road and converted into a furniture store.
The grassy lot where it once stood is now ringed with a white picket fence and home only to flag poles and a small marker of bricks with the names of military and community members.
Yemassee Revitalization Corporation wants to help change that and is embarking on a campaign to raise money for a more elaborate paved memorial and garden to mark the barracks location.
Landscape John Tarkany designed a memorial that includes the U.S. Marine Corps logo and more bricks.
The garden will incorporate plants representing places Marines fought, including French lavender for the battle at Belleau Wood, Chinese windmill palm for the Boxer Rebellion, black bamboo for the Battle of Iwo Jima and Mediterranean fan palm for the “shores of Tripoli.”
The plan was veiled Dec. 14 during the annual Christmas function, and the group immediately sold eight bricks at $100 each. Paving bricks can be inscribed with three lines of text and $75 of the cost is tax deductible.
Executive director Emily Folk said the first phase of the logo and bricks will cost only a few thousand dollars and should be complete by the end of March. The memorial will be added to as additional money is raised.
“We get people pulling off of (Interstate) 95 already to take a look at where their first taste of bootcamp was,” she said. “It is a shame that there is no monument, no marker, to commemorate that spot right there.”
Information: 843-441-7402, YRC_Inc@Live.com