The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Feb. 2, 1871 – “The US Postmaster will open a post office at Alston in Fairfield Co., at the junction of the railroads.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Aug. 12, 1880 – “Judge Hudson has signed an order confirming the contract for building a bridge for the Greenville and Columbia Railroad over the Broad River at a cost of $31,074.” On May 19, 1881 the Herald reported – “The new iron bridge of the Columbia and Greenville Railroad over the Broad River at Alston is now complete.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Oct. 9, 1889 – “The laying of rails for the Columbia, Newberry, and Laurens railroad is about to begin. The line is expected to be completed to Newberry by Feb., including the erection of an iron bridge over the Broad River.”
City Directories and History: By July 1850 the track was finished from Columbia to the Broad River bridge at Alston. The bridge was finished that October, and the road reached Newberry in March 1851. The village of Peak, named for H. T. Peak, the superintendent of the road; Pomeria, named for the plantation of William Summer located about a mile and a half away; and Frog Level were stations below the town of Newberry, whereas Silverstreet, Saluda Old Town and Chappells were stations on the road above Newberry in Newberry District. (History of Newberry Co. by Hope, p. 143)
***Historian Harvey S. Teal’s South Carolina Postal History, 1989 states: “Nathan A. Feaster served as the first Postmaster of Alston which operated from 1850 – 1855. C.B. Walker served as the Postmaster from 1855 – the Civil War.”
The Alston Depot was a one room passenger station stop on the railroad from Columbia to Greenville, SC which ran along the Broad River. The station was named for an the Alston family who moved to the area and originally constructed what was known locally as the Chappell House and in recent
times called Mayfair. Alston, a woodyard for Union Camp, is yet another location of a pre-Civil War site in western Fairfield. It is located south of Highway 213 adjacent to the bridge crossing over the Broad River approximately three miles west of Jenkinsville. No settlement at Alston is indicated prior to the arrival of the Spartanburg and Union Railroad in 1849. Originally the tracks crossed by trestle near Alston to the Lexington side of the Broad River. Later, the tracks were laid up the Fairfield side of the river between Alston and Shelton’s Ferry. The name Alston may have been selected by the railroad as a station name. Regardless, the site was undoubtedly named for the Alston family of Fairfield District. John Alston, an Englishman who immigrated to Fairfield from Scotland, was a highly respected planter who acquired huge holdings in the middle section of the county; his son, James, married Frances Kirkland and settled in western Fairfield. Col. William J. Alston, son of James and Frances, served in the legislature from 1840 to 1845 and again after the war. The name Alston was probably chosen in honor of either James or William or perhaps both. Alston served the surrounding area, including Jenkinsville, as the railroad depot and freight terminal for many years before and after the War. In 1851, Nathan Feaster was Postmaster and by 1860 there was at least one store open for business.
Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC
Open the MORE INFORMATION link (found under the primary picture), to view an enlargeable, 1896 Postal Map of Fairfield County, S.C.
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on April 22, 1891 – Reported on the death of Mr. David Gordon, “he came to America from Ireland when he was eleven years of age and located first in Alston, S.C. He came to Rock Hill in 1858 and established an inn. During the war, in connection with his hotel business, he carried on a shoe making and repair business.”
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