The Coming of the Railroad
Pacolet
Station owed much of its early growth to the coming
of the Spartanburg Union Railroad. The road was built as a
means to help the vicinity of the city of Spartanburg ship
its products, particularly its mineral products, to the
seaport town of Charleston, SC. In Pacolet, the road was
built right beside the old stage coach road that ran from
Spartanburg to Columbia. The first train ran through
Pacolet on November, 25, 1859. Its arrival in Spartanburg
was met with a huge celebration. A barbecue with
8,000 pounds of meat was prepared. The normal
population of Spartanburg at that time was about 1,200
people. It was estimated that a crowd of between eight and
fifteen thousand showed up for the food and the
ceremonies.
The railroad brought lots of business to Pacolet Station.
Guests going to the nearby mineral springs such as Glenn
Springs were met at the depot in Pacolet Station by horse
drawn carriages to take them to their final destination.
Several trains a day passed through Pacolet.
About 1947, when I was 10 years old, I rode the
train with my family from Charleston to Pacolet Station.
We caught the train at the depot in downtown Charleston.
Our passenger cars were pulled by an old style steam
engine. The cars were not air conditioned and the windows
were down. We could easily hear the train whistle and the
engine noises. Once we were moving, some of the engine
smoke and tiny pieces of cinders blew into the car
windows. I don’t remember that the train went all that
fast and we stopped at several stations along the way. I
do remember that we got off the train at Pacolet Station.
We walked out to Coleman’s store and waited for someone to
take us the rest of the way to Pacolet
Mills.
Pacolet Mills had its own special railroad service. A spur
line was built from the main line in Pacolet Station to
Pacolet Mills. An engine known by everyone as "The Dummy"
used this track. It carried raw cotton from the main line
to the mills and it carried finished cloth back to the
main railroad. Click on this link
for more information and photos about "The Dummy".
This web site has
been started as a public service to share the story of
Pacolet.