Graniteville, South Carolina
| Graniteville, South Carolina | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
Mill houses in Graniteville
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|
 Graniteville
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| Coordinates: 33°33′47″N 81°48′29″W / 33.56306°N 81.80806°WCoordinates: 33°33′47″N 81°48′29″W / 33.56306°N 81.80806°W | |
| Country |
 United States of America
|
| State |
 South Carolina
|
| County |
 Aiken
|
| Founded | 1845 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.32 sq mi (8.61 km2) |
| • Land | 3.31 sq mi (8.56 km2) |
| • Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.05 km2) |
| Elevation | 227 ft (69 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,614 |
| • Density | 790/sq mi (305.2/km2) |
| ZIP code | 29829 |
Graniteville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,614 at the 2010 census. It lies along U.S. Route 1, five miles (8 km) west of Aiken in Horse Creek Valley, which originates in the nearby town of Vaucluse.
Graniteville is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area, also known as the C.S.R.A. or Central Savannah River Area.
Graniteville dates back to 1845 when William Gregg built the South's first large-scale cotton mill in what became known as Graniteville. His paternalistic mill town included 90 homes, several boarding houses, six stores, two churches, and a school for the mill workers and their families. The community got its name because most of those original buildings were constructed of blue granite. Gregg required the children of mill workers to attend the public school he instituted, and violators were fined. As such, Graniteville holds the distinction of having the first compulsory education system in the Southern United States.
The Graniteville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
On January 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern Railway freight train struck a parked train on the spur leading to Avondale's Stevens Steam Plant. One of two train cars that were carrying liquid chlorine ruptured, releasing a poisonous chlorine cloud. Nine people were killed, more than 550 injured, and more than 5,400 were displaced from their homes for more than a week. The town built a memorial in a small park at the intersection of Canal Street and Aiken Road, and on May 20, 2006, the memorial was dedicated to the people who died in the crash.
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