Lost Aiken County by Alexia Jones Helsley

Author:Alexia Jones Helsley [Helsley, Alexia Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Photography, Subjects & Themes, Regional, Transportation, Railroads
ISBN: 9781467141499
Google: PpyDDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2019-01-15T16:04:43+00:00

The “Best Friend,” the first locomotive built for rail service in the United States. LCUS-Z62-90957. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

The “Best Friend” of Charleston was the “first locomotive built in the United States for public service.” It was a product of the West Point Foundry, and supporters launched the engine in Charleston on Christmas Day 1830. On its first run, the engine pulled a passenger car to Dorchester. Noted for its speed, in 1831 it carried passengers, freight and mail from Charleston to Hamburg, but its career was tragically short. In June 1831, a fireman blocked the safety valve, and as a result, the engine exploded. The results were frightful. The fireman died, and the engineer suffered serious burns. Others present at the time were also injured. Mechanics later rebuilt the engine, which operated under the name “Phoenix.” A second engine named the “Best Friend” also ran on the same track but was not as fast as the original locomotive.117

By 1835, Hamburg not only had the railroad but also a bank (Schultz was the president). In 1835, the South Carolina General Assembly issued a charter for a bank in Hamburg. The act designated commissioners to receive subscriptions for the new bank at Hamburg, Charleston, Columbia, Edgefield, Barnwell, Abbeville, Anderson, Greenville, Laurens and Newberry. The commissioners could raise up to $300,000. Those who subscribed became stockholders of the Bank of Hamburg, South Carolina. The initial charter ran from 1835 to 1856.118

As Hamburg developed, it became the most successful inland port in South Carolina. With foresight, Schultz had constructed a large pier for the river trade. Wagons brought cotton from the rich agricultural hinterlands, and boats and barges carried the bales downriver to Savannah or Charleston for shipment overseas. With the advent of the railroad, goods could also travel overland. On December 19, 1837, the South Carolina General Assembly incorporated the town.

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