Summerville has rich train tradition

A commuter train for Summerville is a whistle blow from the past.

This town began in the early 1800s as a summer refuge for planters of the Stono region. The philosopher-scientists among them speculated that "there was something about the pine trees" that prevented malaria and promoted good health.

A generation later, the South Carolina Railroad passed near their homes, which were scattered in the pine barren. If the train stopped at the little depot near the village, it was more likely to restock wood fuel than to pick up or discharge locals.

In the years just before the Civil War, yellow fever in Charleston changed the importance of the railroad in Summerville history.

The settlement of several hundred was known as a place where new cases of yellow fever simply never developed, and worried Charlestonians began to appreciate the possibility of Summerville as a bedroom community. A workday rail commute of an hour or so each way was a small price to pay for the health benefits.

So the town expanded with a second migration of families of urban professionals and employees of Charleston businesses. The town then actually comprised two communities, the older settlement near "Old Town Hall" and the newer residences along the railroad.

During the siege of Charleston, the military hospitals in the city were emptied in the warm months and the inpatients were transferred by rail to the large hospitals at Summerville.

Rail travel was rough for the suffering men and prolonged by unplanned stops. In the end, the railroad was destroyed, but the line was soon rebuilt and commuting by train again became a routine for the people who built many of the Victorian homes that are so proudly displayed in the town.

Then in 1888, certain excitable media organizations such as the Charleston News and Courier announced that Summerville was one of the healthiest places on the planet (News and Courier, Aug. 7, 1888 headline: "The Mecca of the Dying — Consumptives the world over must go to Summerville").

Soon the commute was crowded daily with traffic. People with pulmonary miseries registered at Summerville for long stays in the great inns and health spas that have since been lost to modern city planning as their Charleston medical consultants commuted back and forth.

Today the Chamber of Commerce promotes Summerville as a "historic" town. Though its historical significance may be modest and largely unappreciated, the rail that still bisects the town is certainly a link to the mainline of Lowcountry history. And now the news is that the commuter train may be back.

Imagine — you drive your "buggy" to the depot in only five or 10 minutes and a fraction of a gallon of gas, perhaps parking for the day near the Berlin G. Myers Parkway.

Then, as others worry about idling away a tank of gas on Dorchester Road or endure the daily pile-up at the 52 Connector, you read the letters to the editor about Mount Pleasant and Johns Island traffic. On your way home, maybe you catch a nap as the Summerville Limited click-clacks past the angry knot on the interstate.

Finally, in the few minutes left of your commute home, you ease your buggy leisurely through the village, enjoy the old pines and remember why you liked Summerville in the first place.

A commuter train between Charleston and Summerville is not a new and unproven idea. It has worked well for many years already. Furthermore, we needn't be embarrassed that our town is famous for 200 years of history, unimpeded by progress. Show us the drawings for the new depot.

E.H. WEST, M.D.

W. Richardson Ave.

Summerville