Next Stop, Sumter


This exhibit traces Sumter's close association with railroads during the 19th and 20th centuries. At a time when travel could be both difficult and slow, trains provided an essential economic and social link between South Carolina towns as well as between the state and the rest of the country. Sumter became part of a vast network of train routes running north, south, and west. Freight and passenger trains, big trains and little trains, short hops and long hauls: they all came through Sumter.


"Next Stop - Sumter" contains images and artifacts from the Atlantic Coast Line passenger depot and the Pinewood depot. Included are train schedules, an ACL railroad map, a crossing signal, and ticket stand. Through these artifacts, the exhibit examines the history of rail lines from the 1830s, with the "Best Friend of Charleston," to 1962, when the "Carolina Special" stopped running between Columbia and Charleston.

Atlantic Coast Line Depot, Sumter
Atlantic Coast Line Depot, Sumter
Sumter trainyard in 1895