Ellenton is a former community that was located on the border between Barnwell and Aiken counties,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, United States. Ellenton was settled . In 1950 the town was acquired by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission as part of a site for development of the Savannah River Plant, a nuclear plant. All the residences and businesses were acquired, and two new towns, New Ellenton, South Carolina and

Jackson, South Carolina Jackson is a town in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,700 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. History Silver Bluff was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

, were built. The plant was between the current

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

railroad and the current SC Highway 125, Upper Three Runs Creek, and Four Mile Branch. SC Highway 125 was U.S. Highway 278 in the 1950s.

History

Early history

The settlement began with the construction of the ''Port Royal and Augusta Railroad'', which was later renamed the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway. It was taken over by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

. It ran through the plantation of Robert Jefferson Dunbar. Part of his land was for the railroad right-of-way, the train station, and town. Oral tradition of the town tells that Stephen Caldwell Millet, the superintendent of the railroad construction and president of the railroad, boarded with the Dunbar family. He was so struck with the beauty of Ellen Dunbar, the nine-year-old daughter of the Dunbars, that he asked his company to name the station "Ellen's Town." In a note to the O'Berry book, the Savannah River Archeological Research Program indicates that in 1870, when this was supposed to have taken place, Mary Ellen Dunbar was twenty-two years old.

Ellenton Riot

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

occurred in Ellenton from September 15–21, 1876. The initiation of the Ellenton riot began when a white posse attempted to serve warrants of arrest issued by an African-American Magistrate Prince Rivers for two people suspected of breaking and entering. The events escalated until two white men and 100 African-Americans were killed, despite local leaders downplaying the numbers. Perhaps the most notable fatality was that of Simon P. Coker, who served as a member of the Legislature from Barnwell.

Late 19th century to present

The town of Ellenton was incorporated in 1880. For most of its years, it was an agricultural, trading, and sawmill town. It declined through the downturn of cotton prices after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the Depression of the 1930s. By the early 1950s, Ellenton had a population of about 760, about 190 residences, about 30 commercial buildings, five churches, two schools including Ellenton High School, one cotton gin, a city hall and jail, and the railroad station. Ellenton had the first automatic telephone dialing system in South Carolina. After the bank failures in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Ellenton had the first cash depository in South Carolina.

Exodus

On November 28, 1950, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company announced that the Savannah River Plant would be built on about . of Aiken, Barnwell, and Allendale counties in South Carolina. The Savannah River Plant was built for the production of

plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

and

tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...

for the H-bomb. About 6,000 people and 6,000 graves were to be relocated. This included the incorporated communities of Ellenton and Dunbarton and the unincorporated communities of Hawthorne, Meyers Mill, Robbins, and Leigh. In this relatively poor rural area, a significant fraction of those relocated were

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

farmers and sharecroppers. The government purchased or condemned their properties. Many of the residents moved themselves, and in some cases, their homes to the new town of New Ellenton, South Carolina on U.S. Highway 278, which was eight miles north, or nearby Jackson, Beech Island, Aiken, and North Augusta, South Carolina; and

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Some moved out of state. Eventually, most of what remained of the former town were the paved streets, curbs, driveways, and walkways.

Geography

Ellenton's location was approximately 33°13'15" N and 81°43'53" W on the Aiken County – Barnwell County line.

Legacy

New Ellenton was developed to replace Ellenton. An annual reunion of former Ellenton residents started in 1973 and continues today. The musical, ''I Don't Live There Anymore: The Ellenton Story,'' premiered in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1992. It was produced at the Piccolo Spoleto held during the Spoleto Festival USA in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, in 1993. Ellenton and its fate were the basis for the account of the town of Colleton in the novel '' ''The Prince of Tides'''' by

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books ''The Water Is Wide (book), The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides (no ...

References

External links

*Ellenton, SC website �
Ellentonsc.com
– Historical notes and Ellenton Reunion Information
I Don't Live There Anymore website
– has history and pictures
Displaced-The Unexpected Fallout from the Cold War website
– pictures and footage from Ellenton
Savannah River Archeological Project website
– web gallery has pictures and information on Ellenton
''Savannah River Site at 50''
– site selection for the Savannah River Plant from ''Savannah River Site at 50''
William D. Workman Papers, South Carolina Political Collections, Univ. of South Carolina
– has photos and information on Ellenton & the Savannah River Plant {{Coord, 33, 11, 56, N, 81, 45, 21, W, type:city, display=title 1870 establishments in South Carolina 1950 disestablishments in South Carolina Geography of Aiken County, South Carolina Geography of Barnwell County, South Carolina Former municipalities in South Carolina Ghost towns in South Carolina Forcibly depopulated communities in the United States African-American history of South Carolina Savannah River Site Populated places disestablished in 1950 Populated places established in 1870