In Chester District the second post office was at Blackstock’s (1804) where Ned Blackstock, an Irish emigrant, operated an inn 12 miles south of Chesterville. In 1811 Landsford and Rocky Mount, both located on the Catawba river, were established. – Pettus
City Directories and History: 1908 – Alex E. Reed Pressing, (Originally this was the lot of the Own’s Bakery and Grocery store.)
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Feb. 14, 1878 – “H. Henderson, who has been a barber in Chester for between 25-30 years, has moved his shop and is now located at the corner of Main and Wylie Streets.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on July 24, 1879 – “H. Henderson has erected a neat plank awning in front of his barber shop.”
This handsome classical revival style structure was erected in 1908. The Chester Post Office was established in 1794, and first located in the first courthouse on the top of the hill. The building was used as a post office from 1908 until 1960’s. Then it became U.S. Federal offices and is now used by Chester County.
The structure was design by architect, Mr. James Knox Taylor, working with the firm of Blue Ridge Construction Company of Asheville, N.C. to construct of the Classical Revival style architecture. J. Ernest Price was the superintendent of construction. Prior to moving to this location, the post office was located at the McAliley Building on the Hill. The land for the post office was originally purchased from John J. Hemphill and Dr. G.B. White.
In 1792, the Charleston newspaper advertised for proposals for carrying the mail on a “Postroad” that would run from Virginia through Fayetteville, N.C. and then through Cheraw, Camden, Columbia and Cambridge in South Carolina to Augusta, Ga. A round trip on the proposed route would take 13 days. – Pettus
“On the street or public road leading from the courthouse on the hill towards Yorkville there stood next to the residence of John Rosborough, now occupied by the surviving daughters of James Graham, the following residences, viz.: the residence of Jefferson Clark where the present courthouse stands: next, a small house in which my mother lived after my father’s death, where Patterson’s law office is; next, a house occupied by Angus Nicholson on the north corner of the present street leading to the Presbyterian Church, which street did not then exist; next, a house owned by Mrs. Terry and converted into a school house, where Mrs. Ann Foster kept a school — subsequently the residence of Dr. A. P. Wylie.”
(Information in part from: Chester County Heritage Book, Vol. I, Edt. by Collins – Knox, Published by the Chester Co Hist. Society – Jostens Printing, 1982 – Joshua Hilary Hudson’s Recollections)
Historian Harvey S. Teal’s Post Office Data in S.C., states: “Samuel Lacey served as the first Postmaster of the Chester Court House post office, operating from ca. 1794 – the Civil War.”
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