City Directories and History: In the late 1930’s the Georgian Colonial style post office was constructed at the east corner of College and Congress Streets. Before its construction the WPA and CCC had their offices in the vicinity. Prior to those offices were the small shoe repair shop operated by Center Gibson and D.A. Hendrix ran a saloon beside it. U. G. Desportes operated a grocery across the street from the Napa store with a bar room in the rear. All of this was well before 1920 and the advent of Prohibition. [Information provided by J.M. Lyles]
The Rock Hill Record of Oct. 8, 1908 reported on an extensive fire in Winnsboro. “The fire originated in the old store room at the corner of College and Congress Streets, occupied by Larkin Woodward, as a restaurant. It then spread to buildings occupied by Peter Russell as a shoe shop, and Kate Miller as a restaurant, and then to the adjoining shop used by Berry Ann Watson. All the above tenants are African American. The next to yield was the old McMaster Hotel, occupied by the families of Mrs. M.H. Boulware and Mrs. M.E. Sitgreaves. A further spreading of the flames on the eastern side of Congress Street was prevented by the brick building of A.B. Cathcart, which is used by S.T. Johnston for a grocery store. Across the street, the brick store of W.C. Beaty Co., which had an old single roof, lost the roof and most of the goods were damaged. All the wooden building belonged to D.L. Stevenson and W.K. Turner. H.B. Refo and Co., moved out a part of their stock of goods to protect them.”
*** Historian, Harvey S. Teal’s S.C. Post Office History, 1989 states: the Winnsboro Post Office operated by James Barley and David Evans, Postmasters from 1794 through the Civil War.”
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Pelham Lyles says
Previous to building the post office on this site, the two story frame home now on the corner of College and Vanderhorst called the Willingham house (119 W. College) stood close by. In 1918 the house was moved in two sections on rolling logs down the College Street hill to its present location. This house was built before the Revolution and may have housed Lord Cornwallis’s officers during the winter of 1780. The Freeman family owns the house at present.