Dorchester

(Front) This town, in Colleton County before Dorchester was founded in 1897, dates to the early 19th century and the origins of railroading in S.C. By 1843, only ten years after the S.C. Canal & Rail Road Company completed its first 133 miles of track from Charleston to Hamburg, the station here was called Ross, sometimes known as Ross’s, Ross’s Station, or Ross’s Turnout.

The post office established here in 1854 was called Elmville until Reconstruction. (Reverse) The railroad, later the S.C. RR and by 1899 part of the Southern Railway, kept a station, a “turnout” or second set of tracks, and a water tower here for more than 100 years. It carried wood, turpentine, pulpwood, and livestock, and was instrumental in the town’s development.

The post office here was renamed Ross Station by 1875, then renamed Dorchester in 1903. The town, incorporated as Rosses in 1892, was incorporated again as Dorchester in 1912. Sponsored by the Upper Dorchester County Historical Society, 2012