The ghost town of Meyers Mill, South Carolina tells a compelling story of boom and bust in America’s development. Once a thriving community with hopes for a prosperous future, it now exists primarily in historical records and the memories of those who study South Carolina’s past.
County: Barnwell
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 33° 10′ 1 N, 81° 36′ 3 W
Elevation: Not available
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Established: Not available
Disestablished: Not available
Comments: Research shows that meyers Mill was an unincorporated community in southwestern Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States. The area was originally settled by the Meyer family in the late 19th century. Meyers Mill grew after a train stop was built on a new rail line. In 1951, it was acquired by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission as part of a site for the Savannah River Plant.
Remains: Physical evidence of the town the Meyers Mill community is named after the Meyer family. It was an agricultural community. In the early 1940s, a fire destroyed about half of the community. By the early 1950s, Meyers Mill had a population of about 50, about ten residences, three commercial buildings, one church, one cotton gin, and the railroad station. The people were largely African-Americans.
Current Status: The former settlement is now an annual reunion of former Meyers Mill residents started in 1952, but it is no longer held. In addition, there have been reunions of Four Mile High School, which was the African-American high school east of Dunbarton.
Remarks: Meyers Mill represents an important chapter in South Carolina’s history, showcasing how economic shifts and changing transportation patterns could dramatically alter a community’s fortunes. Its legacy continues to fascinate historians and visitors alike.
Meyers Mill, South Carolina: A Railroad Community Lost to the Atomic Age
In the southwestern corner of Barnwell County, South Carolina, once stood the small unincorporated community of Meyers Mill. Unlike many ghost towns that gradually declined due to economic factors or natural disasters, Meyers Mill’s fate was sealed abruptly by a single government decision in 1950—one that would transform not only this small agricultural community but the entire region surrounding it.
Origins and Early Development
The area that would become Meyers Mill was originally settled by the Meyer family in the late 19th century, from whom the community would eventually take its name. However, it wasn’t until around 1900 that the settlement began to grow significantly, catalyzed by the construction of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad. This new rail line connected Denmark, South Carolina to Robins, South Carolina, with Meyers Mill established as a stop along the route.
Robins itself was situated on an existing railroad from Port Royal to Augusta, Georgia, creating an important junction for transportation and commerce in the region. (Interestingly, Robins would later share Meyers Mill’s fate, also being acquired for the Savannah River Plant.) The railroad’s arrival transformed what had been a scattered rural settlement into a more cohesive community.
As was common throughout the American South, the train stop brought commercial opportunities, allowing local farmers to more easily ship their products to market and receive goods from elsewhere. The community that grew around the station naturally took the name of the prominent local family combined with the mill that likely operated there—Meyers Mill.
Community Life
Meyers Mill was primarily an agricultural community, reflecting the predominant economic activity of rural South Carolina in the first half of the 20th century. Cotton was likely a significant crop, as evidenced by the presence of a cotton gin in the town—a crucial piece of infrastructure for processing the region’s most important cash crop. By the early 1950s, Meyers Mill had developed into a small but complete community with approximately 50 residents.
The physical infrastructure of the town included: – About ten residences – Three commercial buildings – One church – One cotton gin – A railroad station Demographically, the community was predominantly African-American, consisting of farmers and sharecroppers. This reflected the broader patterns of rural life in the South during this period, where agriculture remained the primary occupation for many African-American families in the decades following Emancipation.
Setback and Recovery
In the early 1940s, Meyers Mill experienced a significant setback when a fire destroyed approximately half of the community. Fires were a common hazard in small rural towns of this era, where wooden structures, limited firefighting capabilities, and the close proximity of buildings could lead to devastating conflagrations. Despite this setback, the community persevered.
By the early 1950s, Meyers Mill had recovered to the point where it maintained its essential character as a small agricultural community centered around the railroad stop. However, this recovery would prove short-lived, as forces far beyond the control of Meyers Mill’s residents were about to reshape the entire region.
The Savannah River Plant and Displacement
On November 28, 1950, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company made an announcement that would forever alter the landscape of southwestern South Carolina. They revealed plans to construct the Savannah River Plant—a massive nuclear facility designed for the production of plutonium and tritium for hydrogen bombs—on approximately 300 square miles of land spanning Aiken, Barnwell, and Allendale counties.
This Cold War initiative, coming just months after President Truman’s decision to accelerate the United States’ atomic energy program, would require the acquisition and clearing of an enormous tract of land. The federal government’s decision meant the displacement of approximately 6,000 people and the relocation of an estimated 6,000 graves.
The communities affected included the incorporated towns of Dunbarton and Ellenton, as well as the unincorporated communities of Meyers Mill, Hawthorne, Robbins, and Leigh. For the residents of these communities, the announcement came as a profound shock, giving them precious little time to process the news before they would need to relocate.
The Exodus
For the residents of Meyers Mill, as with those of the other affected communities, the government’s decision meant the end of life as they knew it. The federal government purchased or condemned the property, offering compensation that many residents felt was inadequate compared to the true value of their land and the costs of relocation.
The impact was particularly severe for the African-American farmers and sharecroppers who made up a significant portion of Meyers Mill’s population. Many of these residents had limited resources to begin with, and the disruption to their livelihoods and communities represented a significant hardship. Some families had lived on the same land for generations, and now faced the challenge of starting over elsewhere with limited compensation. Many residents moved themselves and, in some cases, even relocated their homes to new locations.
However, the community of Meyers Mill as a cohesive entity ceased to exist. Unlike Ellenton, which was partially reborn as “New Ellenton” outside the boundaries of the Savannah River Plant, Meyers Mill did not establish a direct successor community.
Geographic Location and Current Status
Meyers Mill was located at approximately 33°10’01″N 81°36’03″W, in the southwestern part of Barnwell County. More specifically, it was situated north of Meyers Branch at what is now the intersection of SRS Road “9” and the CSX rail line (formerly the Atlantic Coast Line) within the boundaries of the Savannah River Site. Today, nothing remains of the original town.
The area lies within the secured boundaries of the Savannah River Site, inaccessible to the general public and former residents alike. The exact spot where the community once stood has likely been significantly altered by the construction and operation of the nuclear facility over the past seven decades.
Legacy and Memory
Despite its physical erasure, efforts were made to preserve the memory of Meyers Mill and the other displaced communities. An annual reunion of former Meyers Mill residents began in 1952, though these gatherings are no longer held.
Additionally, reunions of Four Mile High School, the African-American high school that served the area east of Dunbarton, have helped maintain connections among former residents of the region. In the early 1990s, researchers from the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program conducted surveys and interviews with former residents of Dunbarton and the Meyers Mill communities, including both white and African-American respondents.
This research, published as “Memories of Home: Dunbarton and Meyers Mill Remembered,” covered various aspects of life in these communities, including agriculture, businesses, local government, religion, education, entertainment, and community organizations. This oral history project represents an important effort to preserve the memory of communities like Meyers Mill, ensuring that their stories are not entirely lost to history despite the physical erasure of the towns themselves.
Conclusion
The story of Meyers Mill, South Carolina exemplifies the complex intersection of national security priorities and local communities during the Cold War era. While the Savannah River Plant played a crucial role in America’s nuclear program and provided economic benefits to the region through thousands of jobs, these benefits came at the expense of communities like Meyers Mill. The displacement of Meyers Mill’s residents—predominantly African-American farmers and sharecroppers—represents one small part of the human cost of the nuclear arms race.
Their experience highlights the disproportionate burden often placed on rural and minority communities when national priorities require the acquisition of large tracts of land. Today, as the generations with direct memory of Meyers Mill pass away, the importance of preserving what information remains becomes increasingly vital to ensure that this community is not entirely forgotten to history.
Sources
1. “Meyers Mill.” GhostTowns.com. https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/sc/meyersmill.html
2. “Meyers Mill, South Carolina.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyers_Mill,_South_Carolina
3. “Hamburg and the Atomic Towns – Part Two.” Random Connections. May 15, 2014. https://www.randomconnections.com/hamburg-and-the-atomic-towns-part-two/
4. “South Carolina Ghost Towns.” Rootsweb. http://sites.rootsweb.com/~scghostn/ellenton/ellenton.htm
5. “Savannah River Site – SC Department of Archives and History.” https://scdah.sc.gov/sites/scdah/files/Documents/Historic%20Preservation%20(SHPO)/Events/Statewide%20Historic%20Preservation%20Conference/SRS_History.pdf
6. Browder, Tonya A., Brooks, Richard D., and Crass, David C. “Memories of Home: Dunbarton and Meyers Mill Remembered.” Savannah River Archaeological Research Heritage Series, No. 1, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1993.
7. Cassels, Louise. “The Unexpected Exodus.” Sand Hill Press, Aiken, SC, 1971. 8. Reed, Mary Beth, et al. “Savannah River Site at Fifty.” U.S. Department of Energy. 2002.
