Site of the "Swamp Rabbit" Bridge

Front: A concrete highway bridge, built in 1928-29 when U.S. Highway 1 was paved through Batesburg, stood here until 2003. The 111-foot-long bridge, featuring graceful arches, spanned the track of the Sievern & Knoxville Railroad. It was built at a cost of $13,000 by Cohen Dick Fulmer (1890-1972) a contractor who built many bridges for the S.C. Highway Department from the 1920s until World War II. Reverse: The Sievern & Knoxville RR was completed from Perry to Batesburg in 1898. The S&K train, known as “The Swamp Rabbit,” ran until 1933 on a passenger and freight line that linked to the Southern Railway at Batesburg. For 35 years “The Swamp Rabbit” shipped lumber, turpentine, produce, and kaolin to Batesburg and to points beyond via the Southern Railway.