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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A helicopter rescue squad from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter lands in a swamp for a rescue mission in 1956. Courtesy of the Sumter County Museum Archives.
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This aerial photograph of downtown Greenville shows the C&WC Railroad building and tracks. Courtesy of the Greenville County Historical Society.
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A farmer driving an ox-cart was a common sight in South Carolina until well into the 20th century. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.
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The Congaree River was an important route for travel into the interior of the state until well into the 20th century. Steamboats and barges transported freight and passengers. Some of the steamboats...
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Office and school truck at Vaucluse, South Carolina, in 1910. Mr. J. Wesley Rearden is shown standing, with derby hat, on the far side at the front end of the truck. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana...
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The downtown Cooper River docks in Charleston. Charleston's harbor fell into disrepair in the early 20th century after neglect by the railroads, which controlled the docks through the Terminal Company...
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Ellenton, one of several towns that was moved in order to make room for the Savannah River Plant (see South Carolina Enters The Nuclear Age). Here Herbert Harden, Railway Express Agent, moves bundles...
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Pleasure boaters on Lake Murray form a pontoon boat raft. Photo by Bill Kalis, June 23,1986. Courtesy of "The State" newspaper.
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School buses pull up to unload children for a day of recreation at Sesquicentennial State Park, near Columbia, in 1941. Courtesy of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.
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The Orangeburg railroad station, photographed around 1910. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
