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"S" is for South Carolina Railroad

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"S" is for South Carolina Railroad. The South Carolina Railroad was chartered in 1827 as the South Carolina Railroad and Canal Company. Completed in 1833, the road stretched 136 miles from Charleston to Summerville, Branchville, Blackville, Aiken, and ending in Hamburg. At the time it was the longest railroad under single management in the world. . By 1848 there were branches to Camden ad Columbia. In 1853 the railroad reached into Augusta, Georgia. And in 1858 permitted to join its track to the Georgia Railroad. The company’s track, buildings, and rolling stock were thoroughly destroyed during the Civil War. Rebuilding began immediately, but the company was soon mired in debt and went through a succession of owners. In 1902 the South Carolina Railroad was consolidated into the Southern Railway, ending its existence as an independent company.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.