McCormick Station

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

McCormick Station is a historic train depot located on Main Street in central McCormick. It was built around 1911 by the Charleston & Western Carolina Railroad and is now home to the SC Wilds Heritage Center, an organization that works to share the history of quilts and their connection to the Underground Railroad among other artifacts related to African and African American history. The station is one-story tall and rectangular in shape with wide eaves. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Images

McCormick Station was built c.1911 by the Charleston & Western Carolina Railroad.

Automotive parking light, Plant, Sky, Property

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The station is the third one built at this location. The first was constructed in 1882 by the Greenwood & Augusta Railroad. An investor by the name of Cyrus McCormick bought stock in the railroad (and in two others, including one that later merged with the Greenwood & Augusta Railroad) and encouraged it to run through the newly established town. The town was established over a gold mine discovered in 1852 and, interestingly, selling alcohol was prohibited and continued to be for a century. McCormick thus became the first "dry" town in the state. It appears the town is named after McCormick but he, apparently, never set foot in South Carolina.

The first station was torn down to make way for the second one that was erected around 1900 by the Charleston & Western Carolina Railroad. Eight passenger trains stopped at the depot every day. The depot operated for must of the 20th century. It is unclear when it became the home of the SC Wilds Heritage Center.

Sources

"A History of McCormick, South Carolina." Carolana.com. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.carolana.com/SC/Towns/McCormick_SC.html.

"McCormick Depot." SC Picture Project. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.scpictureproject.org/mccormick-county/mccormick-depot.html.

"McCormick Station." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. December 12, 1985. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/30953dc7-7c8a-4f07-b491-68d5cacf6700.

"McCormick Train Station." Waymarking.com. July 4, 2013. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHFEP_McCormick_Train_Station_McCormick_SC.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Bill Fitzpatrick, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McCormick_Train_Station.jpg