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About 1890 the Southbound Railroad was built to join Columbia,
S.C. and Savannah, Ga.. The local towns along that railroad: Gaston, Swansea.,
Woodford and North, S.C., etc. were located about five miles apart, so they were
within traveling distance with a mule and wagon. The train carried passengers
who needed a place to stay overnight. At least two wood frame two story hotels
were built in Swansea. The old two story hotel on the west side of the train
track, near the Swansea milling co., has been torn down. The old , C. Harry
Corbet who was born in1856, two story house was used as a hotel. It still stands
across from the NAPA Auto Store. Both hotels were very near the train tracks, at
easy walking distance.
A large two story wood frame (commercial) building was soon built
on the east side of Cardiff Street, across from the train depot.
The first Swansea, S.C. post office was a small wood frame
building in the yard of the C. Harry Corbet house.
1900 U.S. census #7 for Bull Swamp Township Lexington County S.C., shows that C.
Harry Corbet (born Sept. 1856 was a farmer, same census show that his wife
Maggie Corbet, born 1862, was the Swansea Post Office Mistress in 1900.
The train caused some of the old horse and buggy mail post offices
to discontinue at their old locations and move to the post offices along the
railroads. It seems that an old post office on Pine Plains Rd., East of Swansea,
and a old post office near Sharon Crossroads United Methodist Church , west of
Swansea, both discontinued mail delivery and then used the Swansea post office.