How Kingstree Grew

For those of living in Kingstree today, it's hard to imagine a town where the northern boundary of the city limits was in the vicinity of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church on Academy Street. To the north and west lay the Singleton plantation, home of the late Thomas Day Singleton, who served in the US House of Representatives from 1826 until his death in 1833. 

Looking north on Academy Street today is much different than it would have been

during the early days of the town's history.

The area south of Main Street, particularly from the Nelson House on the corner of Main and Academy streets was also slow to develop as it was a part of the large Nelson plantation.

Bessie Britton, who was born in 1894, remembered that when she was a small child around the turn of the Twentieth Century, there were only three houses between the First Baptist Church on the corner of Academy and what is now Brooks Street, but was then likely called Logan Street, and what would become today's US52. These were the home of Thomas and Lou Gilland on the corner of Academy and Kelley. This property was once part of the Singleton plantation and is owned today by the Williamsburg County School District; the old James Brockinton home at the head of Academy Street, which had also been a part of the Singleton plantation; and the old Hirsch house, also known as the John G. Pressley house, one of the oldest houses in Kingstree, located near the intersection with US 52. The Pressley/Hirsch home still stands and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Pressley House as it looks in Spring.

On the other side of Academy Street, Miss Bessie remembered only one house between Williamsburg Presbyterian Church and US52. That was the old W.W. Grayson home, then owned by Alvena Burgess Tomlinson. That house on the southeast corner of Academy and Jackson is still standing, but was bricked long ago and made more modern looking.

Beneath the brick facade of this house stands the wooden structure that was

home to the Graysons and later the Burgesses. Beth Cottingham remembers

visiting her Burgess grandparents here when they lived in the old wooden house.

Of course, there may have been other houses in this area that had been demolished or otherwise removed before Bessie Britton's day.

In 1905, J.W. Coward built the first house on Kelley Street. That area would soon become known as New Town, or after a few years, once the Nelson Addition began to take shape to the south, this area north of town was sometimes called the Northern Addition. In later years, it was simply known as North Kingstree.

By 1907, four residences were under construction in New Town. They belonged to W.M. Vause, J.E. Blizzard, Lula Barr, and W.H. Carr. Mr. Carr, however, sold his home before the end of the year to Belle Blakely so that she could move her family to town from Lane. She would later sell this house and build The Columns on Academy Street. W.V. Strong also began construction of a house in the neighborhood before the end of that year.

The new graded and high school gave a boost to the new neighborhood, as parents who lived outside Kingstree sought to move closer to the school for their children's sake. B.H. Guess of Salters bought a lot in New Town with plans to build a house, and W. Francis Kennedy from Lake City came to town one day, and before he left had worked a trade that included his ending up with a lot in New Town.

Philip H. Stoll built a home on Epps Street (now Live Oak) during this time. In late 1907 he took James Henry Rice of The State newspaper for a ride through the area. Rice commented that "three years ago, this was an old field. Rabbits had built their burrows in the grass."

On October 25, 1907, the first football game ever played in Kingstree took place on a cleared field in New Town. Refereed by W.F. Fairey, the Champions took on the Orioles with the Champions winning 15-0. Members of the Champions included Marion Evans, Sam Montgomery, Cicero Guess, Marion Funk, Alexander Rogers, Virgil Kinder, Grady Weaver, Robert Kirk, Tommie Gilland, LeRoy Funk, and E.B. Hallman. The Orioles roster included James Epps, John Britton, Motte McGill, Theo Rodgers, Ernest Funk, Sam Stackley, Frank Rodgers, Wallace Bethea, James Vause, Arthur Brockinton, and Burrie Brockinton.

In the summer of 1908, the Athletic Association cleared a lot in New Town for a baseball diamond.

Also, in 1908,  Kingstree Real Estate donated a lot in New Town to the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church for its manse. D.D. Peden, a former pastor of the church, who was then living in Houston, TX, had sent the current pastor, E.E. Ervin, a check for $250 toward the building of the manse, and the donation of the lot helped spur more donations for the cause.

By 1911, R.H. Kellahan had donated property in New Town to the Civic League for use as the park, which bears his name today.

Kellahan Park

Bessie Britton noted that in time something of a feud sprang up between boys living in New Town and those who resided in the older part of town. She wrote, "Nobody had automobiles then, and a young sport who dared to go on foot out of his own territory to escort a girl to a dance knew he was safe only until he had returned the girl to her home. Then he knew he had to run for his life, zig-zagging to dodge the barrage of small rocks and brickbats aimed at his legs by enemies in the dark. ...But love has always found a way, and in time a few Old Town boys married New Town girls and vice-versa."

Early in 1909, J.T. Nelson decided to subdivide his large tract of land to the south of town. In late February, he announced, "I expect to open a street through my land from the Lower Bridge Road to S. Academy Street. He anticipated that the tract would be subdivided by March 15, with ultimately 30 to 40 choice lots available. Mr. Nelson's plans appear to have only partially come to fruition, as only Ashton Avenue was developed.

In May 1909, H.O. Britton had begun construction of a house in the "Addition." Nabor D. Lesesne and several others also bought lots there. W.H. McGee of Greeleyville soon began construction of a house there, as did H.A. Miller, owner of the local butcher shop. Miller, in 1915, actually farmed a portion of Nelson's Addition, as The County Record noted that he had a pretty field of tobacco growing there. 

By 1912, there were enough residents in Nelson's Addition that the Kingstree Town Council voted to built a brick and concrete bridge over the canal for their convenience.

In 1915, John and Bessie Britton built a home on Ashton Avenue near that of Mary Van Keuren. The foundation of their home was comprised of heavy timbers, original to Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. When the Presbyterians decided to replace their old wooden church with a brick one, John Britton's father, Henry, had bought the old church and had it torn down, giving the building materials to John to help defray the cost of his new home. Bessie Britton wrote that Nabor Lesense often teased them about "living right" as their home rested on parts of a church. 

A newcomer to Kingstree, attorney M.A. Shuler also bought a lot in Nelson's Addition, and Kingstree Police Chief James H. Epps built his house there.

During this time, Kingstree's black residents lived in several areas of town. Some lived on West Church Street and on Jackson Street. Others lived east of the railroad, and still others lived near the river and on Buzzard's Roost, which later became Longstreet. Another primarily black neighborhood was known as Frog Level. I have not yet been able to identify where that neighborhood was located. During the time when Kingstree was beginning to expand its residential areas, the Rev. Lawrence McFarlin built a number of homes for Kingstree's black residents.

In the early nineteen teens, Lou Gilland began to sell lots from the former Singleton plantation property. On at least two occasions, public auctions were held for these lots, complete with brass bands for entertainment. However, on one of these occasions, the auction was halted after only a couple of sales as the lots were bringing far less than they were considered worth.

In 1914, J.F. Cooper, Hugh McCutchen, and H.E. Montgomery chartered the Fidelity Development Company, with $10,000 worth of stock. The company was liquidated in 1922, but one wonders if Fidelity Lane in Kingstree is not a lasting reminder of this attempt at further development of the town.