Town file
Traveler's Rest, South Carolina
Traveler's Rest, South Carolina (Greenville County, South Carolina) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 671, "Baby-Faced & Deadly" (5 February 2026). In May 1987 Patsy Diane Vineyard was twenty years old and living at the Shipyard Apartments on Monroe Street in Sackett's Harbor, New York, while her husband, Michael Vineyard, served at Fort Drum.
- Town
- Traveler's Rest
- County
- Greenville County
- State
- South Carolina
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 671
- Approximate location
- 34.982, -82.425
Episode 671 / 5 February 2026 / 182 min / full
Baby-Faced & Deadly
"This is in far northwestern South Carolina... This is in Greenville County" about 0:05:49
The case: Murder of Patsy Vineyard (May 1987); Murder of Velma Faye Gray (August 1989); Murder of Jamie Hurley (May 1990); Murder of Katherine 'Kat' Johnson (July 1990). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2026
- Population
- 7,670
- Median age
- 21.4
- Median household income
- $36,495
- Median home value
- $263,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- $970 a month
- Cost of living
- 91
- Religious
- 62.3 percent
- Property crime
- ▲ more than double
- Violent crime
- ▲ a little more than half
History, in brief
- In 1794 the South Carolina General Assembly appropriated $2,000 to build a wagon road from Greenville into the Blue Ridge Mountains. about 0:06:17
- The road ran through Asheville, North Carolina, and ended in East Tennessee. about 0:06:31
- Traveler's Rest was the first well-equipped stop where travellers prepared for the mountains ahead. about 0:06:46
- The town was incorporated in 1959, having previously been incorporated in 1891 until that incorporation expired. about 0:07:25
- While unincorporated, most of the area was known as Bates Township in the early 19th and 20th centuries. about 0:07:55
- The town is sandwiched between Furman University and North Greenville University. about 0:08:06
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A beautiful, family-friendly small community with good food and beer down the road, walking and biking paths, an hour from the Blue Ridge Mountains and half an hour from Greenville."about 0:08:28
5 stars
"A small community where everyone gets together well, and you can always find someone you know while roaming downtown."about 0:09:01
3 stars
"A fast-growing small town on the outskirts of Greenville; Main Street is growing, the Swamp Rabbit Trail is a good place to exercise, and the town has a lot of potential."about 0:09:29
3 stars
"Some problems with car break-ins, believed to be young kids because of the items taken."about 0:10:13
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Greer, South Carolina12 miles
- Easley, South Carolina14 miles
- Roebuck, South Carolina27 miles
- Townville, South Carolina39 miles
- Gaffney, South Carolina44 miles
- Clayton, Georgia56 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.