Williston is a town in

Barnwell County, South Carolina Barnwell County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,589. It is located in the Central Savannah River Area. Its county seat is Barnwell. History The Barnwell District was created in ...

, United States. The population was 3,139 at the 2010 census. The town lies in the center of the Charleston-Hamburg railroad line, the line of the Best Friend locomotive. The train tracks were removed in the 1990s, but the track site has been designated as historically significant by the South Carolina Department of Archives. This section of the train route is now part of the South Carolina Heritage Corridor. The small-town community once had its own newspaper, ''The Williston Way'', founded in 1921.

History

The Ashley-Willis House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2004.

Geography

Williston is located in northern Barnwell County at . U.S. Route 78 passes through the center of the town, leading east to Blackville and northwest to Aiken. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Williston has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.70%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,877 people, 1,296 households, and 607 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 3,307 people, 1,310 households, and 906 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,460 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 50.80%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 47.51%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.36% Native American, 0.09%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.21% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino people of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 1,310 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 24.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.02. In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.0% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,371, and the median income for a family was $30,990. Males had a median income of $27,829 versus $21,635 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $15,134. About 26.3% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 23.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

There are three schools in the town: Williston-Elko High School, Williston-Elko Middle School, and Kelly Edwards Elementary School. A private school in Blackville, Jefferson Davis Academy, also serves a portion of the town's population. Williston has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the ABBE Regional Library System.

Notable people

* Rafael Bush,

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) safety,

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

* Taylor Hearn, NFL Offensive Guard, Carolina Panthers

References

External links

Town of Williston official website
{{authority control Towns in Barnwell County, South Carolina Towns in South Carolina