Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-12-29
The STORY OF Sharon
How Thriving Western York County
Town Came Into Being.
SIDELIGHTS ON ITS HISTORY


School House is Now Being Used as
Building in Which to Manufacture
Ice-First Policeman Let Prisoner
Get Away-No Brick Buildings Un-
til 1eo9-How Mrs. Kennedy Kept
Liquor Out of Town--Record Of
Thirty-four Years.
(By a Staff Correspondent.)
Sharon, Dec 29-Thirty~ years
ago, what is now the thriving town of
Sharon wasn't even wide place in
the road. The site of this town was
covered over with virgin forest and
thick underbrush, a haven for rabbits
and partridges and other wild game.
In all probability the topography Of
the country would be like that now
had it not been for the coming of the
Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago
railroad (now the Marion and King
vile division of the Southern) through
the forest land that was then Sharon.
True, Sharon Associate Reformed
Presbyterian church had been organ
lied since the summer of 1896 and be-
fore the railroad nosed its way
through, there was little old one-room
log school house near here. But that
was all.
When the railroad authorities plant
ed an old worn out second class coach
on a knoll near where the present sta
ton stands and the agent announced
that he was ready to sell tickets and
ship freight, people began to conceive
the idea Of building a town here and
as a result of that conception Sharon
started. That was in 1888. John Ross,
now a resident of Arkansas, was about
the first settler in Sharon and soon
after came the Messrs. PleXico. John
L. Rainey, grand old man of western
York, now in his 18th year, owned
practically all of the land on which
the town of Sharon was built and is
building. He perhaps did more to en-
courage the building Of town here
than any other one man. 1t was he
who gave the railroad the right OF way.
It was he who gave the site for a de-
pot. 1t was he who sold lets for
song in order to encourage settlers
and business. And his interest in the
town today is just as keen as 1t was
thirty-four years ago when the axes
of the woodsmen started biting deeply
into the mighty trees in order that the
ground they occupied might be avail
able for building sites. Not quite all
of the territory that is now incorpor-
ated in Sharon belonged to Mr.. Rainey,
The eastern section of the town was
originally the property of Misses Mary
and Eliza Gilfillen, now dead From
them it passed to their heirs although
part OF it has been sold to other
parties in the intervening years.
First Store House.
The first store house was built by
John L. Rainey and was occupied by
the firm of Lowry, Starr and Ross, the
firm members being Messrs. James
Ross, James NJ. Starr and Sid Lowry.
They did general merchandise busi-
ness and they did we'll from the start,
it is said. Sharon people familiar with
the early history of the town tell an
amusing incident in connection with
the building of the first store house.
The railroad track had not been COM
pleted through Sharon when Mr.
Rainey commenced the erection OF the
store. Major John F. Jones, now Col
lector of Internal revenue for South
Carolina was superintendent of the old
Three C's" road. Coming down to
Sharon one day to look after the rail-
road construction work, Major Jones
noticed the store going up in the
woods and wanted to know about it
what 1t was and so on. 81 am building
I 2 store" Mr. Rainey is said to have
replied to a question.
We'll" eturned Major Jones, "all |
have got 60 say is you are mighty
damn previous"
But as subsequent developments
have proven, Mr.. Raincy was not WIS.,
ionary in building the first store here
and was not too previous either,
since many other stores have gone up
in the years that have passed. One Of
those stores, that occupied by Hill &
Company, and completed by Mr.. W. l..
| Hill in 1913, is said to be the largest
store building under n single roof in
all of South Carolina. People travel
ing in coaches on the Three C's" now
the Southern railway, are always at
tracted by the handsome three-story
brick store room at the eastern en-
trance into Sharon. The hustling lit
tie town of less than 500 people is
known in many states as the South
Carolina town having the largest store
building in the state.
First FIoteI.
John Ross, who may be called the
! first settler in Sharon also conducted
the first hotel or boarding house in
Sharon. That was back in 1887 when
the railroad was nosing it's way
through the wilderness. He was sue
ceeded in the hotel business by Mr..