Whitestone
Whitestone - This was a separate and distinct community from Pacolet for a long time. It was once famous for its healing mineral springs. In the late 1800’s a hotel was built close to the spring. It was thought that the spring water was helpful for kidney, liver, stomach problems and even malaria. Visitors from all over, particularly Charleston and the Lowcountry, came to Whitestone to “take the waters” and be “cured”. Horse drawn trolleys met the visitors at the railroad in Whitestone and brought them out to the hotel. The hotel burned sometime around 1900 and was not rebuilt. The spring was still used and for a time the water was bottled and sold. Farming was also important around Whitestone. The coming of Camp Croft, adjacent to the town in World War II, greatly affected the town. The government required that some farmers in the town sell their land for the camp. The main road from Columbia to Spartanburg went right through Whitestone until Camp Croft was built. This road was diverted away from the town and the camp. The town’s population fell drastically. There was an elementary school in Whitestone until the early 1950’s when it was closed and the students went to Pacolet Station to go to school. (This web site is being written on one of my prized possessions, an oak teacher’s desk from the Whitestone school. It was salvaged when the school was closed.)
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.