West Union, South Carolina

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Incorporated in 1869, West Union dates back to some time before 1850 when Col. Joseph Gresham moved there to form a temperance union. He called it West Union because it was west of an earlier union he had begun.

The town is located in Oconee County at the end of the Norfolk Southern, previously Southern Railway, branch from Anderson, built in the early 1860s as the Blue Ridge Railroad which was intended to stretch to Knoxville, Tennessee. A lack of funds and the onset of the War Between the States caused the construction to halt at Walhalla and the line was never finished. The route was again truncated at West Union in the late 1990s.

Once a prosperous lumber town, West Union built a depot in 1884 and opened the Mineral Springs Hotel in 1903 to accommodate visitors. Neither structure now stands, and most residents are employed at industries out of town.

The town has a mayor-council form of government.

Population is 303.

  • This is the Clemson Wiki project's 1,257th article.

Reference

  • "2008 Anderson Almanac", Staed, John, associate editor, Anderson Independent Mail, Anderson, South Carolina, 29 June 2008, page 90.