Florence's Murchison house begins move to Timmonsville

FLORENCE — The process of moving the 109-year-old John Murchison house to Timmonsville began in earnest Wednesday with the top floor being removed in two sections.

The house will be chopped into four sections. It is being moved by Joe Powell and Sons House Movers of Kingstree. Joe Powell’s son, Joey, is heading up the operation.

Superior Cranes Inc. had a 300-ton crane on duty to remove the second floor. Headquartered in Rockingham, N.C., Superior has other North Carolina offices in Charlotte, New Bern, Greensboro and Wilmington and a South Carolina office in Florence.

“We do work like this all the time,” said Bob Cunningham, Superior’s project manager. “We also do power plant erections, heavy and specialized hauling and plant erection, relocation and maintenance.”

And safety is the mantra of Superior. Cunningham’s hard hat was fronted with an American flag and speckled with sayings such as “Always be Careful,” “Do it Right, Do it Safely,” “Forklift Safety Trained” and “Safety Trained.”

The house was given to Debra Isgett by Dr. Jed P. Tepper Sr., a Florence dentist, with the stipulation that she have it moved. Isgett is having the structure moved to an 85.7-acre farm in Timmonsville.

Isgett’s daughter, Tracy Price, her husband and four children plan to live in the house. Price expects it will be two years before the renovations will be completed.

Price said it is costing around $40,000 to move the sturdy house. It will be moved in four sections.

“I don’t know who’s the most excited about having this house moved, me or my mother,” Price said. “Mom is chomping at the bit to get it to the farm so that we can start working on it.”

Marshall M. Yarborough, chairwoman of the Florence City-County Historical Commission, said in an earlier interview that the house contained the second elevator ever installed in Florence.

And the elevator will move to Timmonsville because Price said, “It’s going to be the focal point of the house. We’ve already located somebody who can fix it.”

The house is made out of some tough bark. It broke the tips off several saw blades that Joey Powell was using to free the second floor.

The house was cut off above the floor line on the second floor so that the top two sections could be removed. It had wood shingles on the bottom with four layers of asphalt shingles on top.

Joey Powell gave signals out the window to crane operator David Hudson telling him when to move the sections. One section weighed 46,000 pounds, not including the 12,000 pounds of rigging.

But moving all that weight was just another day at the office for Hudson, who has been operating cranes for 7½ years. When he wasn’t watching Powell for hand signals, he was swashing a big wad of chewing tobacco around in his mouth. And he disposed of portions of it with a straight aim out of the side of his mouth that would be the envy of any hunter.

The house was a showplace during its time with oak flooring and 5-inch crown molding. Every room has at least two doors. And it has a double staircase that is joined on the second floor, where two cedar closets are located. The closets were removed intact Wednesday.

The original owner, John Murchison, also owned Pee Dee Blue Brick in Marion. It remained in the Murchison family until shortly after Maime Murchison’s 90th birthday in 1978.