Description

Explore the fascinating history of Hopkins, South Carolina with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Hopkins was named for John Hopkins, a Virginian who obtained a royal land grant in 1764. The town was originally Hopkins Turnout, as the railroad had a turntable here before the line to Columbia was completed.

Trains ran from Charleston to Hopkins, and passengers continued to Columbia by stagecoach. Hopkins is home to the Congaree Swamp, originally inhabited by the Congaree tribe; they were reduced greatly by smallpox, but the area retained their name. Now a national monument, this biosphere boasts one of the most diverse forest communities in the country. Hopkins is also home to structures on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Harriet Barber House (c. 1880), the Hopkins Presbyterian Church (c. 1891), and the remains of the Hicks Chappell House (c. 1781), which burned in 2008.

Author Ann Drayton Lister, a Hopkins native and a member of the Upcountry History Museum's History Makers, Presbyterian College's Young Alumni Board, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Columbia Museum of Art, and the Greenville Museum of Art published this book in order to preserve Hopkins's history through the local families who generously shared their memories and photographs with her.