Like so many burgeoning towns scattered throughout the developing nation, Fountain Inn, in the second half of the nineteenth century, made the gradual transformation from sleepy agrarian backwater to booming urban and industrial hub. It was the blessed arrival of a technological marvel, the railway, that brought new possibilities and ushered in a period of extraordinary development and prosperity.
Built in 1886, the Charleston & Western Carolina Railway Company constructed a line that ran through part of the treasured old town cemetery – in fact, many graves had to be moved. Diverse businesses ultimately line the railroad that delivered passengers but also numerous goods and commodities. In those days, merchants received all their freight by train. The C. & W.C. Company of course also took away the many manufactured goods and processed materials produced by the good citizens of the town for sale in all parts of the United States.
The railway was a transforming game-changer in the history of our town and region.