From horse and buggy to space shuttles, South Carolinians have relied upon a wide variety of motive power and vehicles to get to where they are going. The story of transportation is actually an extended part of the account of South Carolina's economy: without the ability to move people and goods, neither agricultural, commercial nor industrial activity can succeed in bringing prosperity. Other examples of how people travel can be found, especially in the section of this collection on economy, but also scattered throughout all the images. This section is organized by forms of transportation, and within each example by chronology. Using these images you can: begin with animal power (horses and buggies); explore the changes in water transportation from Native American log canoes to the latest in ocean going and pleasure boats; see the changes in rail travel (train and trolley) over time; follow the progress of the impact that the internal combustion engine has made in South Carolina; and witness the beginning of the air age in our state.
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Paratroop transport planes are lined up at Shaw Field, near Sumter, around 1940. Courtesy of the Sumter County Museum Archives.
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In 1916, the Broad River flooded between Leeds and Carlisle, making the Seaboard Railroad trestle across the Broad the only passable roadway. Courtesy of the Winthrop University Archives.
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Horses had to be shoed, and buggy wheels needed repair when broken, just as a flat tire requires the services of a garage or gas station today. This 1906 billhead illustrates the services this...
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The model in this 1928 advertising photograph prepares to step into an Anderson Automobile in front of the Winthrop College main building in Rock Hill, where the Rock Hill Buggy Company, manufacturer...
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Charleston's Municipal Airport, on the grounds of the old colonial French Botanical Gardens, had its start in 1929 under the administration of Mayor Thomas P. Stoney. By 1945, the air age was well...
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This Ford Motor Company showroom in Greenville provided potential customers a chance to look at the newest designs. In this 1934 photograph, signs advertise, "Now on Display: New Ford V-8 Truck."...
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Mr. Martin Elbert (Bert) Terry was a section foreman, supervising repairs of the Charleston and Western Carolina Railroad in the early 20th century in the Hampton area. Courtesy of Mildred B. Rivers.
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Patrick Henry Corley, Sheriff of Lexington County, poses proudly with his horse on the main street of Lexington around 1910. The purpose of photographs such as this postcard view was usually to show...
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The "Ghio," a rear-wheel paddle steamer, docks at the landing at Cheraw around 1900. Note the trolley or incline railway that carried loads from the river landing up the steep bank to the level of the...
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A convertible stops at a gas station in Rock Hill in 1941 to "fill 'er up." By the end of the year, World War II gasoline rationing severely restricted automobile pleasure travel. Courtesy of the...
