22.11.15

Brief History of the Wilson & Summerton Railroad


The Wilson & Summerton Railroad (W&S) Railroad was first chartered by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1888.

The railroad line was built by Thomas Wilson and started at Millard Junction, just to the west of Summerton, where it connected to the Charleston, Sumter & Northern Railroad (CS&N). It ran 16.5 miles to Wilsons Mill, just to the east of Manning, where it connected to the Central Railroad of South Carolina.

The W&S began operations on September 10, 1889. Towns along the line between Wilson's Mill and Millard's Junction included Wilson, Bloomville, Jordan, Davis Station, and Summerton. The primary purpose of the W&S Railroad was to bring lumber to Wilson's Mill.

In 1890, the Eutawville_Railroad changed its name to the Charleston, Sumter & Northern Railroad. In October 1894, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad bought the Charleston, Sumter & Northern Railroad and it was renamed the Charleston & Northern Railroad. In 1895, property, franchises, and rights of the Charleston & Northern were sold, and a good portion of the line was acquired by the Wilson & Summerton (W&S) Railroad.

In 1899, the W&S Railroad was merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and became the Northwestern Railroad of South Carolina and Thomas Wilson became its president. The railroad line ran all the way from the town of Camden to Wilson's Mill, a distance of more than 61 miles. It remained in business until the mid-1930s when it folded due to competition from the growing trucking industry.


* Be sure to visit the US Railroad & Rail Worker History web site

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1 comment:

  1. I am pretty sure that the Wilson & Summerton never merged with the Atlantic Coast Line.

    The Wilson & Summerton (Tom Wilson) bought the Charleston & Northern and created the new
    Northwestern Railroad of South Carolina by combining his Wilson & Summerton with the line from St. Paul north to Sumter. The track south of St. Paul to the Santee Swamps were leased to other lumber companies in Sumter.

    Wilson built a NEW line from Sumter to Camden to get a connection with the Seaboard Air Line since he was surrounded by ACL lines as a disadvantage.

    Wilson left Wilson's Mill and moved to Salem, a sawmill town of his located a mile north of Cades on the ACL. He then built the SALEM RR west from Salem to New Zion and on to Gambles Store in Clarendon County.

    Closing this down, he built a NEW Salem Railroad northwest to Florence County to Lynches River. He also logged at Lake City and once a Wilson locomotive got free at Salem and ran north to Lake City where it hit a southbound ACL freight train.
    Not much later he moved to Sumter and purchased the St Paul to Sumter line.

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