William Walker / Clara Smith

William Walker (1809-1875), known as "Singing Billy," was perhaps South Carolina's most famous musician of his day. A singing school teacher, composer, and collector of folksongs, he published four shape-note tunebooks that brought musical literacy to isolated churches across the country. His popular Southern Harmony (1835) was the first to include Amazing Grace with its familiar tune, and his bookstore was located near this site. Clara Smith (1894-1935), born and raised in Spartanburg, was one of the best-known female blues singers of the 1920s. She found early success in vaudeville and later in Harlem, was billed as the "Queen of the Moaners," and recorded some 122 songs for Columbia Records, working for the likes of Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Lonnie Johnson.

Spartanburg, South Carolina · United States