Hurricane Florence's slow meander across South Carolina spared Kingstree from serious damage. However, many of us experienced a period of no electric power at some point during the long, stressful weekend. It's during these times that we remember just how dependent we are on electricity and the comforts it makes possible. This year marks the 105th year residents of the Town of Kingstree have had access to electric power, and like many things, it was a struggle to get it up and going.
As early as 1904, The County Record agitated in its editorial pages for the town council to look at providing electricity to residents. The paper argued that the old gas-powered street lights did not always work, nor did they provide enough light for residents to see to get about at night. The dark streets were also havens for crime, the paper stated.
On March 15, 1906, town residents voted in a special bond referendum to issue $12,000 in bonds to build the infrastructure for an electric light system. The final vote tally was 44-6 in favor of issuing the bonds. Town council turned the project over to the Board of Commissioners for Public Works to ascertain the costs of building and maintaining such a system. By November, nothing had been done and at its November 20 meeting, council called for the immediate resignation of the members of the Board of Commissioners.
By February, 1907, the town had employed C.C. Wilson, a Columbia architect, to work up a preliminary cost estimate for constructing an electric light plant to serve the Town of Kingstree. He came to Kingstree on several occasions, but somehow nothing ever happened, and in March, 1908, the newspaper noted that two years had passed since the bond referendum on electric lighting was approved, but Kingstree still spent its nights in darkness.
The town got a taste of what electricity could bring in December 1908 when Smith's Greater Shows, a carnival sponsored by the Kingstree Fire Department, arrived, bringing its own electric plant with it. "For the first time in its history, Kingstree is lit up with electricity," The County Record crowed.
H.C. Case of Philadelphia, PA, appeared at a special town council meeting in 1909 to propose that council give him a franchise to provide electricity to the town. He was already providing power to Georgetown and could easily expand his operation to Kingstree, he said. Council was willing, and in January 1910, the State of South Carolina issued a charter to the Kingstree Electric Company, with capital assets of $10,000. Case was president of the company, with M.V.B. Sickel of Newton, PA, vice president, and S.C. Case, also of Newton, the secretary-treasurer.
Just as architect Wilson had been seen in Kingstree several times after the town engaged him, so, too Case was in town, meeting with officials, on several occasions. However, 1910 turned in to 1911, and the Town of Kingstree was still without electricity. In February 1911, The County Record again equated lack of electricity with lawlessness. In response to a Saturday night shooting spree on S. Academy Street in which no one was arrested, the newspaper noted, "The greatest foes of lawlessness are light and publicity. Give us more and better lights!"
Several businesses and homeowners, tired of waiting for town-wide electric service, installed their own systems. The Williamsburg Oil Mill was fully electrified, as was P.B. Thorn's new residence, although Thorn hedged his bets by installing both gas lights and electric ones. P.S. Courtney put in a 5-horsepower International Harvester engine and dynamo to provide electric lights and fans for his restaurant/ice cream parlor. He also installed a steam-driven piano, run by the dynamo. Dentist Dr. W.L. Taylor installed an electric motor to power his drill.
The town's installation of a city-wide water system in 1912 seemed to give council the impetus it needed to move forward with electric lights. In July, 1912, shortly after the water system became operational, council granted a conditional right to three local men–M.F. Heller, R.H. Kellahan, and Dr. D.C. Scott–to construct and operate an electric lighting plant in Kingstree. These three men were chosen from several applications the town received.
In mid-September, books of subscription opened to raise capital for the Kingstree Electric Light & Ice Company. The ice manufacturing plant was added as a complementary business because Kingstree was at that time forced to get ice from Florence or Georgetown, and service was sometimes spotty. The company received its charter from the state in early November. P.G. Gourdin was president; T.M. Kellahan, vice-president; and D.C. Scott, secretary-treasurer. By the second week of November, 1912, workmen were raising cypress poles on the streets to hold the light lines. The townspeople were expecting electricity in about four months.
The company contracted with General Electric of New York in December to provide equipment and machinery. The equipment arrived in March, and as installation of it began, citizens who were interested began wiring their homes so they'd be ready once electric power was available.
The April 10, 1913, issue of The County Record noted, "A force of electrical engineers and other workmen are now engaged in stringing the transmission wires for the Kingstree Electric & Ice Company. It is hoped that electric street lights are not far off for Kingstree. What a difference there will be then in the old town at night!"
There seems to have been little or no fanfare when the system actually went into service. On May 15, 1913, The County Record stated in its local news column, "The electric 'juice' has been turned on, and (on) these dark, cloudy nights Main Street suggests a 'great white way.'"
Apparently, the system needed some adjustment in those early days, as in June of that year, the paper made note that town residents were once again enjoying their electric lights which had been shut down for some days while repairs were made to the generating system.
All photos taken September 15, 2018
Bessie Britton told this story about the coming of electricity in a column published in The County Record in 1952. Adolphus McFadden was a deaf-mute who was well-loved in Kingstree. She described him as a "small black man who, although he couldn't speak a word, could utter weird sounds, and his gestures were most eloquent." Sometime before electric lights became a reality in Kingstree, Dolphus had been helping to unload a rail car near the depot. Unable to hear the train coming, he stepped back onto the track and was hit by the locomotive. His injuries were severe, and he was taken first to the railroad hospital in Florence, and then on to Rocky Mount, NC, where he stayed for some time. During his absence, the power was turned on in Kingstree. Miss Bessie noted that when he returned, "all dressed in a snow-white suit, he stepped off the train expecting to see the village in darkness as usual. The blaze of lights almost threw him for a loop." He immediately trotted off to visit Mayor W.R. Scott, with whom he had grown up. However, when he got to Thomas McCutchen's home and saw the family sitting on the front porch, he began jumping up and down on the sidewalk, squealing as if he were in mortal agony. Mr. McCutchen rushed to help him, only to discover that Dolphus was overjoyed to see that Kingstree now had lights just as bright as Rocky Mount's.
According to the 1920 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the Kingstree Electric Light and Ice Company was located on the north side of Scott Street near the railroad, the same location that for many years after was the site of Southern Cities Ice Company.
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