Mortgage Broker in Inman, SC

INMAN, S.C. (WSPA) – A restaurant that served as a gathering place for many people in one upstate community has turned their open sign-off permanently but that hasn’t stopped loyal customers from still stopping by.

Big Daddy’s Family Restaurant is a staple in Inman. So, when customer Bobby Garrett heard they were closing, he didn’t believe it.

“I was on my way to Boiling Springs and I said I am going to stop and see if I see some cars through here and if there aren’t I will know they were closed.”

What he found was an empty parking lot, “well it’s true, nobody is here, it’s over now,” Garrett added. “I would have never thought that I would see them closed.”

Garrett wasn’t the only customer that didn’t see it coming, “very sad, in matter of fact, (my brother) heard it before I did, and he called me and he said look that up and see what you can find,” Customer Bruce White said. “So, we came up here to see if there was a sign on the door haha.”

That neon sign was off at the restaurant that White has made a lot of memories in.

“I’ve been going here for probably 20 years, and I understand they were open for 29, so I came here a lot,” White added. “(My brother and I would eat lunch here every Tuesday, so that was our day we would come over here and eat lunch. It’s a great place, I hate to see it go, it’s a staple as far as I am concerned.”

And what kept White coming back wasn’t just the food.

“Every time you go in there you would see something you hadn’t seen before, and they had a soda fountain like the old times sodas that will make you milkshakes—it was phenomenal,” White added. “I want that bull over there, see the bull on that building, I want to put that in my backyard.”

But even more so, White would like to see the restaurant continue for another 30 years. “We will miss this place a lot, I don’t know how they are going to replace this, to be honest with you, I am hoping that someone else will pick it up and keep it going.”

As for what’s next for the restaurant the owner hopes someone new will take over the business.

INMAN, S.C. —

A South Carolina woman who set up her phone camera at sunset over the weekend captured more than she expected.

"I was just trying to get the sunset on video, actually," Brianna Oliver said of the images she took from a field off Asheville Highway in Inman.

Brianna Oliver

When Oliver went over the time-lapsed video she took on Saturday, she discovered an animal running across the screen.

"I saw what was there, and I was like, 'What is that?' I asked my boyfriend," Oliver said.

"I’m pretty sure that’s bigger than a cat," she told him.

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Oliver posted video and pictures to a neighborhood Facebook page, and the comments confirmed what she suspected: that it was a cougar or mountain lion.

"I think it’s a mountain lion, personally," she said. "It’s not the first one I’ve seen out there, but people don’t believe you because they say it’s not native here."

We showed the video to Greg Yarrow, a wildlife biologist and professor of wildlife ecology at Clemson University.

He said his first reaction was that it might be an animal that escaped Hollywild, the wild animal preserve on Hampton Road in nearby Wellford.

Brianna Oliver

"These occasional sightings are usually either misidentified, or they’re animals that may have escaped or sometimes people will get kittens and raise them as pets," Yarrow said.

WYFF News 4 contacted Hollywild, and officials said all their animals were present and accounted for.

Still, Yarrow said wildlife experts are in agreement that the Eastern cougar, or mountain lion, is not found breeding or free-roaming in this area.

"Certainly, it’s interesting in terms of being able to see that (animal) roaming across the field there, but that’s pretty much where were are right now," Yarrow said. "There’s really not been any documented — at least in South Carolina — cases of cougars free-roaming."

He said the closest breeding populations of cougars are in South Florida, in the Everglades, and in the Big Cypress Swamp area.

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Another interesting element to the video comes about 15 minutes or so, in real-time, after the animal runs through the area. Another animal that looks like a deer is seen to the far left, running around off-screen.

Yarrow said that although wild cats can travel a long range, the possibility that this could be one that is migrating through the area is pretty rare.

As for Oliver, she said she's just glad she wasn't out there when the cat was there. She also said she's getting support from her neighbors about the post.

"It’s just crazy how many reactions it got and how many people believe, like I do, that they’re around," she said.

Jay Butfiloski, with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said this after looking at the video:

"There is nothing in this video that would make me think this was a big cat. There is no substantial tail, and the body appears smaller. A mountain lion should have a thick long, and black-tipped tail," he said.

Yarrow said several years ago there was a report of a cougar on Clemson’s campus.

He said one of the schools naturalists was actually able to catch up to it and discovered it was an exotic breed of dog that looked very similar to that type of body of a cougar.

"Yeah, that was almost convincing," Yarrow said. "You look at the photographs and you just can't tell."

The city of Inman has partnered with Main Street South Carolina in a program that city leaders hope will revitalize its downtown and prompt economic growth.

Main Street South Carolina has for 40 years served as a technical assistance program intended to empower communities as they revitalize their traditional business districts, encouraging economic development and historic preservation.

Inman Planning Director April Williams said the city benefits from tools and resources such as design and marketing assistance provided through the program, which offered under the auspices of the Municipal Association of South Carolina.

“It’s a holistic approach to help us look at the program as a whole and not just hyper focused on one thing,” she said. “For example, we have events throughout the year, but we just can’t focus on these and bringing people here for only a few times a year. We need more daily and weekly engagement, and the leadership team will help us grow these aspects of our community.”

Main Street South Carolina aims to empower residents with the knowledge, skills, tools and organizational structure necessary to revitalize their communities.

“They have done great work in many S.C. cities and there is a strong push to let everyone know who they are and that they’ve been here for a while,” said Williams.

Williams said the city initiated interest in the program after she started in her current position in January 2022.

“This is something the city leadership has been wanting to do for a while, but the administrator didn’t have the bandwidth,” she added. “This was one of the things I was tasked with when I joined the city, and now it is great timing to tie into this program that will heavily benefit our community.”

The Main Street resource team will assist with making sure Inman is more recognizable as a community and community development partner, said Williams.

The city is in the data collection process, surveying the communities in Inman for feedback on what residents would like to see in their city. The Main Street resource team will be meeting with stakeholders and holding town hall meetings, in addition to collecting data from city residents at the end of February through early March. They will then compile a presentation on the next steps in the program process and what they need to be successful, said Williams.

?“This program will be more of an affirmation that we were already going in the right direction as a city with all the growth and work leadership has done,” said Williams. “It’ll be nice to hear we are doing the right things but also what else we can do to improve by taking the necessary steps to get there. This type of program also really highlights the importance of networking and connections.”

INMAN, S.C. (WSPA) – We have a 7NEWS update about an Inman road that was on its way to shutting down. Now, efforts to please everyone will keep it open.

The one-way strip coming off of Asheville Highway was in the process of being closed down for good. After the City of Inman and its developers did some more digging, they found a solution to benefit everyone.

What used to be part of a carriage path is now a well-traveled road. Shutting down a section of East Main Street in Inman was given the green light by the city, Spartanburg County and the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).

“It seemed with SCDOT’s support that closing the road was the number one option,” said Joe Lanahan.

A Plus Development owns the property on both sides and petitioned to have the strip shut down, which left some residents upset.

“To cut off traffic, all of a sudden is just not the correct thing to do. It will cause wrecks,” said Petro Ramantanin.

Joe Lanahan, with the City of Inman, said after spending more time studying the problem, the city and developers found another solution.

“So, you ended up with more property than you need for one lane of travel,” he said. “So, the city has agreed to grant an easement to allow the developer to come up a little bit and that will allow them to finish their parking lot.”

7NEWS spoke with the owner of Big Daddy’s earlier in February. He said he created a petition to stop the road from being closed.

“I turned it into the city council. There are 160 plus names, of which 60 are absolutely, directly affected,” said Ramantanin.

Lanahan said all of their voices were heard at that Monday night council meeting.

“I think it’s a good process. It’s exactly what we’re here to do. It’s exactly what our council wants to do,” said Lanahan. “They want the city and residents to speak up if they have a concern and they’ll always be considered.”

Safety is still a concern for the city with how fast people drive on that road. So, they’re back at work with the Department of Transportation.

“We’ll look at some traffic calming measures coming off of Asheville Highway, to keep it as safe as possible,” said Lanahan. “Increased signage as you come off of Asheville Highway, because we’re going to have two new retail spots there. It is a city road, so we can do things like medians, possibly a stop sign.”

Lanahan said they hope to keep this little corner of the world safe as it continues to grow.

The plan for the area is for two retailers to set up shop and Lanahan said all the construction should be done in around six months. The developers also bought seven acres, but the plan for that is not finalized yet.

INMAN, S.C. —

The plan for a 31-mile rail trail from Spartanburg County to Western North Carolina is one step closer to reality.

On Thursday, a coalition of nonprofits announced an agreement with Norfolk Southern to sell the rail line for use as a recreational rail trail.

The nonprofits are PAL: Play. Advocate. Live Well., Upstate Forever and Conserving Carolina.

The Saluda Grade Railroad was built in the 1870s, but it hasn't been used since 2001.

A new trail would connect Inman, Gramling, Campobello, Landrum, Tryon and Saluda.

"This is a really big step that we needed to take to make this project a reality," said Laura Ringo, of the agreement. Ringo is the executive director of PAL.

The project is an exciting prospect for Inman leaders.

"I used the word a year ago that this is going to be generational change for the city of Inman because it's going to bring people into our neck of the woods that may not have come around before," said City Administrator Joe Lanahan.

"People have been preparing for it," he said. "Our restaurant inventory is moving up in Inman, our retail is moving up, and folks are now starting to get ready for, not if the trail comes, but when the trail comes."

It's also exciting for businesses we spoke with, including downtown Inman's oldest business, Kempson Rexall Drugs.

"We're very excited about all of the growth that Inman has experienced in the last couple of years, and we just see the trail as kind of the next step in that progression," said Marianne McElveen.

The coalition expects to finalize the purchase of the corridor within two years and is advocating for an $11 million investment from the state this year.

It's an investment the coalition believes will pay off.

"Some of the early reports that came out say we'll have 125,000 users just in the first year, so that's going to be really significant for those small businesses (and) those restaurants along the route," said Lanahan.

This summer, the coalition said it will reach out to landowners and stakeholders along the trail to seek their input.

The coalition is preparing a website for the Saluda Grade Trail. The website is expected to launch this spring.