Belton (Images of America)

By: Alison Ashley Darby

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Synopsis: Belton, South Carolina, is indeed a child of the railroad. By 1853, the fledgling town had begun developing at the junction of the Columbia and Greenville Railroad and its spur line to Anderson. Josephine Brown, daughter of Dr. George Reece Brown who owned most of the land around the railroad, named the community after Judge John Belton O'Neall, president of the C&G Railroad Company. By the turn of the century, Capt. Ellison A. Smyth began the Belton Cotton Mill, which quickly became the largest cotton mill in the Palmetto State.Images of America: Belton captures the city's growth from a railroad depot and mill town to today's wealthy suburb of Anderson and home to the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame and the Palmetto Championships, the state's junior qualifying tennis tournament. The community's vitality is depicted through historic images of the standpipe, a water tower built in 1909 that symbolizes Belton today; the depot and railroad scenes; church life; town progress; schools; community events and celebrations; and prominent residents.