A natural spring with medicinal qualities inspired the name of an Upstate town founded in 1842 as Mineral Springs. Renamed Williamston 10 years later, the town continues to honor its heritage of healing water.
History tells us that the discovery of the town’s healing spring by area farmer West Allen Williams began to spread and the town grew into a major resort that many referred to as ‘Saratoga of the South’ – a reference to a similar spring in New York.
To handle the influx of visitors, the Williamston Hotel and the Mammoth Hotel were built near the spring. At 150 rooms, the Mammoth Hotel was the largest building in the state at the time.
In 1852, following an announcement that a new railroad would run through the area, the town was chartered, and its name changed to Williamston to honor the man who had put it on the map. A fire in 1860 destroyed the town’s hotels and most of the business district, but the arrival of cotton mills around the turn of the century shaped the town’s employment and community life for years to come.
Williamston has preserved its rich heritage at Mineral Spring Park and invites visitors to tour the grounds and see the site of the famous spring.
The town dedicated the gazebo at Mineral Spring Park in 2013 to Dr. Dwight Hazelton Smith, a Williamston physician who promoted consumption of water from the springs for its healing properties.
A plaque at the gazebo reads, “In memory and celebration of a life of service and dedication to his community, we generously offer this water to all who may partake and wish each one health who consumes its quenching flow.”
Dr. Smith died in June 2006 at the age of 85.
Although cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 concerns, Williamston presents the annual Spring Water Festival each August in Mineral Spring Park. The festival features arts and crafts vendors, children’s rides and activities, an antique car show, gospel music and the Spring Water 5K Run and 1 Mile Fun Run.
Organizers are planning for its return in 2021.
