Vesta MillsAt the outset of operations Vesta Mills did not employ African American labor throughout the mill. Approximately forty white operatives worked in the weave room, but Montgomery was convinced that in time blacks would be employed in all departments.
WalterboroDespite a short boom in phosphate mining from the 1880s through 1910s and the rise of more durable forest industries, prosperity proved elusive. In the 1880s, when house lots were still fenced to contain livestock and baseball and brass bands were the rage, the town got a railroad spur that connected Walterboro to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Wellford(Spartanburg County; 2020 pop. 2,774). Located in west-central Spartanburg County between the North and Middle Tyger Rivers, Wellford was once…
West Columbia(Lexington County; 2020 pop. 18,109). Although never home to textile operations, Columbia’s western suburbs were influenced by industrial activity throughout…
Westminster(Oconee County; 2020 pop. 2,598). Founded in 1874, Westminster was a child of the railroad. The Atlanta and Charlotte Railroad…
WestosCarolina colonists learned of this powerful Native American Savannah River nation soon after their arrival. Most lowcountry Indians feared the…
Whaley, William Burroughs SmithArchitect, engineer. W. B. Smith Whaley was born on May 24, 1866, in Charleston, the son of William Baynard Whaley,…
Williamsburg County(937 sq. miles; 2020 pop. 29,825). Williamsburg County, located in the outer coastal plain and in the southern tip of…
Williamston(Anderson County; 2020 pop. 4,298). Around 1842 West Allen Williams discovered the mineral spring on his property that gave rise…
Williston(Barnwell County; 2020 pop. 2,912). Williston, located on U.S. Highway 78 in Barnwell County, is named for early settlers, the…
Wilson, Charles CokerArchitect. Wilson was born on November 20, 1864, in Hartsville to Dr. Furman Edwards Wilson and Jane Lide Coker. He…
WinnsboroIndustry arrived in earnest at the end of the nineteenth century. Winnsboro merchants financed various industries, including the Fairfield Cotton Mills in 1896. Later renamed the Winnsboro Cotton Mills, this plant became an economic mainstay of the town throughout the twentieth century.
WoodruffWoodruff probably gained its greatest recognition in the postwar decades due to the success that the coach W. L. “Willie” Varner brought to Woodruff High School athletics, especially football. Under Coach Varner, the Wolverines won ten state football championships.
Woodside, John ThomasTextile mill owner, entrepreneur. Woodside was born in Greenville County on May 9, 1864, the son of John Lawrence Woodside,…
World War IWhen Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917, part of South Carolina was already on a war footing. Charleston…
World War IIPrior to the entry of the United States into World War II, the depressed South Carolina economy had already started…
WSPAWSPA in Spartanburg became South Carolina’s first commercial radio station when it signed on the air at 6:45 P.M. on…
YorkIn the late nineteenth century, Yorkville experienced the same forces of industrialization as the rest of York County and the southern Piedmont. Cheap labor combined with low tax rates encouraged a cotton mill boom, and many poor farmers came to town in search of work.
York CountyIndustrial development in the late nineteenth century dramatically changed York County. Rock Hill was home to the first steam-driven cotton mill in South Carolina, the Rock Hill Cotton Factory, which began operation in 1880.
