*1896 reorganized as the Lancaster & Chester Railroad.

In 1873, a special Act of the South Carolina General Assembly granted a charter to the Cheraw and Chester Railway Company and provided: That the said company is hereby authorized to construct a railroad from Cheraw, in Chesterfield County, to Chesterville, in Chester County, by such route as shall be found most suitable and advantageous.

Proposed as a way to link distant regions of the country, the railroad was planned to be part of a larger system that would allow for the tranporting of products to and from the South. The early intention was to build a 55-mile railroad that would connect the towns of Cheraw, Lancaster, and Chester within South carolina.

After the investors had supplied enough money to build 30 miles of track from Chester to Lancaster, their resources were exhausted. The remaining track to Cheraw was never completed. The financial picture for these early investors did not improve. By June 1896, the Cheraw and Chester was under foreclosure, and by court order was sold at auction. Colonel Leroy Springs, founder of Springs Industries, purchased the railroad for $25,000 on the Chester County Court House steps.

In 1882, the Charlotte, Columbia & Augusta Railroad leased the Cheraw & Chester Railroad for 99 years.

Towns on Route:

Chester C.H. > Chester (1886)

La Grange

Rich Hill Cross Roads > Richburg (1879)

Basconville (1882) > Bascomville (1883)

Cedar Shoal > Fort Lawn (1882)

Waxhaw

Lancaster C.H. > Lancaster (1877)