Wilson, formerly Wilson's Mill, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Clarendon County,

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

United States. The community is located along U.S. Route 521 between

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

and

Greeleyville, South Carolina Greeleyville is a town in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 438 at the 2010 census. The town was originally chartered on December 20, 1893. Greeleyville's seal and flag feature a depiction of the first Town Ha ...

. Wilson formerly had its own post office which operated between 1888 and 1982.

History

The small community of Wilson, sometimes called Ida, is named for Thomas Wilson, a

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded ...

originally from

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; sco, Airdrie; gd, An t-Àrd Ruigh) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre. , the town had a ...

, who built a sawmill called Wilson's Mill in the area during the late nineteenth century. Wilson and his wife, Eleanor Coyle McCormack had originally immigrated to America from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1866. Wilson had worked as a boilermaker with the York and Erie Railroad in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

before migrating south, first to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and then South Carolina, settling within the vicinity of modern Wilson. His operation eventually included employee housing, a

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared g ...

railroad depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

, and a post office. Soon Wilson's Mill gained control of the

Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain of ...

logging scene and an eight mile long railroad into Santee Swamp, connecting with the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

from

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumter ( ...

to Charleston was built. This railroad became known as the Wilson and Summerton Railroad and by 1888 connected with the Charleston, Sumter, and Northern Railroad at Millard, one mile west of

Summerton Summerton is a town in Clarendon County, South Carolina, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 814. Geography Summerton is in southwestern Clarendon County at (33.605145, -80.352159). Interstate 95 passes just south of the tow ...

. It was in this same year that the post office, called Wilsons, was established, the name was changed to Wilson in 1894. By 1891, the supply of trees for timber in the area was exhausted and Wilson closed the mill operation and moved away. In 1899, the Wilson and Summerton Railroad was renamed the

Northwestern Railroad of South Carolina The Northwestern Railroad of South Carolina was a South Carolina railroad that traced its history back to the 1880s and survived until the mid-1930s. The line, chartered in 1899 by the South Carolina General Assembly, ran from Northwestern Juncti ...

with main lines from St. Paul to Summerton and Sumter. Wilson served as the president of this railroad until his death in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1921. The Northwestern Railroad was ultimately abandoned in the aftermath the Great Depression, in 1935. After the sawmill closed, the community of Wilson turned to agriculture as its primary economic pursuit, with

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

being the profitable crop. Today, farming continues to be Wilson's driving force. In 1982, Wilson's post office was officially discontinued.

References

Unincorporated communities in Clarendon County, South Carolina Unincorporated communities in South Carolina {{SouthCarolina-geo-stub

History

See also

References