WELLFORD, SC
Wellford is a city in Spartanburg County, in the Spartanburg metro area. The community was named for P.A. Wellford, a railroad director. We are in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina, which places Wellford in the Eastern Time Zone. The latitude of Wellford is 34.950 North. The longitude is 82.106 West. The elevation is 883 ft. The estimated population in 2003 was 2,049
Median Household Income:
Crime: The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 6. The number of murders and homicides was 0. The violent crime rate was 2.9 per 1,000 people.
History
- Wellford was established in the mid 1700s
- Fun Fact: Controversies have existed over the town's date of creation, spelling of its name, and its size.
The oldest town of the Wellford - Duncan - Lyman trio is Wellford. Just how old it is remains a matter of dispute. The town's charter, which was granted in 1881-81 states the community began in 1740, but local some historians believe that date to be too early.
The Upstate was wilderness populated by Indian tribes until the mid 1750s, when Spartanburg County's first known white settler, Elijah Clark, came to the area. During the early 1760s Fort Prince was built nearby for protection against Indian raids. Most historians agree it wasn't until the 1760s that organized white settlement of the region began.
Whatever the date, the area around Wellford originally was known as Beech Springs township. The community began a growth spurt in 1876 when the Danville-Richmond Railroad came to town. A depot, post office, and general store were built to accommodate the railroad, and the bustling little community was renamed after Danville-Richmond director P.A. Wellford. Some claim that the town's original spelling was Welford.
Wellford's history is now hazy due to a series of fires many years ago that destroyed early public buildings in town. Several schools existed in Wellford's early years, along with the Sunny Graded School for freed slaves, which was chartered in 1881.
The town began the process of becoming chartered in 1881, with the final signing of the charter taking place in February 1882. The charter set up a number of rules in the town, including a 99-year ban on liquor.
When the town was chartered, Wellford was roughly four square miles. On March 14, 1910 the size of the town was reduced by 1-1/2 square miles. The reasoning for this has been lost.
The Wellford - Duncan - Lyman area now lies in the heavily traveled thoroughfares between Spartanburg and Greenville.
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