"Barnwell County was named for Revolutionary War leader John Barnwell (1748-1800). The county was originally part of Orangeburg District, and in 1785 it was named Winton County. It was given its current name in 1800. The South Carolina Railroad, which connected Charleston to Hamburg on the Savannah River, was built through this area, creating the towns of Blackville and Williston in the mid-nineteenth century." (From the State of SC web site)

"Williston was founded in the early nineteenth century by the descendants of an early settler, Robert Willis. Growth occurred rapidly following the establishment of a railroad running from Charleston to Augusta. On Christmas Day, 1833 the locomotive "Best Friend" made the first trip along the 136 mile route, averaging 12 miles per hour! At the time the longest railroad in the world, by the mid-1840s over 100,000 bales of cotton a year were being shipped along it to Charleston. Farms soon sprung up along the route, and Williston soon became an important station stop." [Excerpt from the History of Williston on the town web site.]