A lot can happen in 175 years.
A Civil War. A once-every-500-years earthquake. Two world wars. A Great Depression. And a few hurricanes for good measure.
Among all these major events are the people and stories that shaped Summerville. Some are well-documented, while others have an air of mystery around them. But each one lives on, telling how this place became what it is today.
Much of that history is rooted in Summerville’s early decades. The people, decisions, and moments from those foundational years still affect the community today.
Seeking Sanctuary
Summerville began as a place of refuge. Well before the town was incorporated in 1847, it served as a summer home for Charleston planters, according to Ed West, who serves as a local historian at the Summerville Dorchester Museum.
The first community in present-day Summerville formed around St. Paul’s Church. Planters from the Upper Ashley River came to the area in the early 1800s and lived in cottages to get relief from malaria in Charleston.
Another community, New Summerville, was created across from a swamp that is now Azalea Park and what would become Hutchinson Square. The land was owned and developed by the South Carolina Railroad.
The area was dense with pine trees, which the railroad used for lumber.
"In 1830, it was no more than pine forest,” West said
But that was all about to change.
By 1831, the railroad was selling land to Charlestonians, which would lead to the development of Summerville.
New land acquisition and a Yellow Fever epidemic drove more residents to the area. The railroad was still in control of the land and played a key role in developing the town.
West believes it was one of the first true railroad towns in America.
“This is unique here in that the railroad bought land to develop a town,” he said.
The Making of a Town
The pine trees did more than offer shade from the Lowcountry sun and humidity for early settlers. Many thought the trees and their distinct odor kept residents healthy.
Since the railroad owned the land, trees were being cut as development continued. And there was little local residents could do to stop this resource from being consumed.
So, the St. Paul’s community and New Summerville joined together in 1847 to form one town and pass an ordinance to prevent pine trees from being cut.
Despite the formation of the new town, Summerville didn’t become a popular destination until the 1850s when Charlestonians began arriving as rail travel became more common.
A Divided Nation Brings Refugees to Summerville
By the 1860s, America was torn over the issue of slavery and the secession of South Carolina sparked a mass exodus of southern states from the union, leading to the Civil War.
Summerville was mostly spared from major battles. According to West, the idea that Summerville’s fresh air continued through the war, so it was an ideal place to set up hospitals for the wounded and serve as a staging area for troops.
"They built two large hospitals here,” West said. "One of the hospitals was on Red Hill. It was an encampment or tent hospital."
Like so often throughout its history, Summerville again served as a shelter. Those fleeing the war often stopped in town and many stayed at the Paradise Inn, one of the largest hotels in the area.
West said numerous refugees signed up as "vivandières," a French term for women who attach themselves to a military unit and sell odds and ends to troops.
"They were organized as a unit at the Paradise Hotel,” West explained. "Thirty or so of them signed up.”
Although Summerville didn’t see any large-scale battles, one brief engagement took place on the steps of the former Town Hall.
Heyward Hutson, President of the Summerville Preservation Society, whose offices are located at the Old Town Hall, described a situation where riders, likely from Union regiments in Charleston, made their way into Summerville. Residents believed the riders intended to loot the town.
“And they [the Union troops] came up here and they were met by the town councilmen, who had their weapons,” Hutson said. “And they confronted the marauders and actually shot one of them.”
West is also familiar with the story, noting it took place in March 1865, when chaos and confusion were normal as the war drew to a close.
Hutson said Summervillians feared retribution from Union troops stationed in Charleston.
“They were concerned that he [the Union commander] would send his troops up here to burn the village,” Hutson said.
Those involved convinced the commander that they acted in self-defense and avoided a wider conflict and possible destruction of the town.
The “Healthiest Place in the World”
Post-Civil War Summerville experienced widespread attention.
In 1888, The International Congress of Physicians, which met in Paris, dubbed Summerville the “healthiest place in the world.”
West said a prominent pulmonary doctor who lived in New York made the declaration. He served as vice president of the International Congress of Physicians.
Whether he ever visited Summerville himself remains a mystery.
“I have no record he’s ever been here,” West said. “I have no idea why he picked Summerville as being the healthiest place in the world.”
Regardless, it put Summerville on the map. By 1900, visitors from all over the country and Europe were coming to Summerville for health purposes.
According to West, the influx of people brought fresh ideas and new perspectives. One was public education, which he said was non-existent in late 19th and early 20th Century Summerville.
"In the constitution of South Carolina of 1868, the state assembly was mandated to set up a public education system,” West said. “The assembly to did not fund it until 1900,”
While the state may not have provided education, others like Dr. Charles Shepherd stepped in to fill the gap.
Shepherd was a professor at the Medical College of South Carolina. He established the Pinehurst Tea Gardens as part of an experimental plot for the US Department of Agriculture.
He used it as an opportunity to employ people from the local area and provide education.
African American children worked at Pinehurst Tea Gardens. They were paid to pick tea and when picking season was over, Dr. Shepherd offered education, paying for the costs of books and teachers.
The success of the team farm, and its education model, attracted people of power, including President Theodore Roosevelt.
“Teddy Roosevelt was one of the presidents that came down and visited just after 1902,” Hutson said.
Summerville experienced many major events over its first few decades. Each one played a pivotal role in creating the community that exists today.
