*1893 bankruptcy, sold to Ohio River & Charleston Railroad.

Discussions of an Ohio River route to the Eastern Coast started in the 1830s, when representatives from North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky met at Gate City, Virginia. This meeting originated a plan which would allow for the construction of a railroad that closely resembled what was actually constructed over the next seventy years.

Prior to the Civil War, little more than talk and plans were made, however. In 1886, a group of financiers organize the Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad - also well known as the 3-Cs or Triple Cs line. Their objective was to extend a rail line from Charleston, South Carolina to Ashland, Kentucky - with the intent of tapping the rich veins of coal in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, as well as the iron ore recently found near Cranberry, North Carolina.

Construction began at Rutherfordton, North Carolina and quickly proceeded south to Camden, South Carolina by 1888. In 1889, the line was extended northward 25 miles to Marion, North Carolina. Simultaneously, construction was proceeding southward from Ashton to Richardson, Kentucky.

In 1890, financial disaster struck the Triple C railroad. A major investor, Baker Brothers & Company, failed in the financial panic of the time, and the courts ordered that the railroad go into receivership. In May 1893, the railroad was sold to its bondholders and a new corporation was established - the Ohio River & Charleston Railroad.

Towns on Route (in SC):

Line #1:

Edgefield

Pittsburg (1890s)

Trenton

Eureka (1890)

Milledgeville

Lake City

Crofts (1892)

Aiken

Line #2:

SC/NC State Line

Blacksburg

Kings Creek (1889)

Smyrna (1892)

Hickory Grove > Hickory (1895) > Hickory Grove (1907)

Sharon (1889)

Yorkville > York (1915)

Tirzah

Belmont (1886)

Newport (1889)

Old Point (1890) > Oldpoint (1894)

Rock Hill

Lesslie (1889)

Roddeys (1890) > Roddey (1896)

Catawba

Lindsay (1890) > Riverside (1907)

Lancaster

Pleasant Hill

Heath Spring (1889) > Heath Springs (1916)

Oakhurst (1888)

Kershaw (1890)

West (1888) > Westville (1890)

Kalb (aka DeKalb Station) (1891)

Camden