Ware Shoals

History

Ware Shoals is the site of an old water wheel gristmill, which William Ware operated in the early 19th century at Rutledge Ford on the Saluda River. Senator Nathaniel Barksdale Dial of Laurens County envisioned the possibility of damming this river to power a cotton mill. Dial started the project, but ran out of funds before the power plant was completed. Benjamin D. Riegel then bought the project from Dial and founded both the Ware Shoals Manufacturing Company and the town of Ware Shoals in 1902. The construction of a power plant was completed in 1904 as a prelude to the construction of a state-of-the-art textile mill in 1906. That power plant originally provided for 4,800 horse power. The mill contained 30,000 spindles. By 1916 a new mill was constructed containing 70,200 spindles and 1,300 looms. From 1904 to 1916, the population of Ware Shoals grew from two men employed to maintain the newly constructed power plant to 2,000. By the 1960s the mill employed 5,000 people. The founders of the mill and the original officers of the Ware Shoals Manufacturing Corporation were Benjamin Riegel, president and treasurer; James MacEnroe, assistant treasurer; and R. S. Oliver secretary. MacEnroe was instrumental in the construction of the town's first school at the cost of $20,000. The mill employed the school's eight teachers and required many of its employees and their children to attend classes. The mural was completed in 1940 and titled, American Landscape.Beginning in the 1940s, "The Big Friendly" began an early shopper loyalty program by conducting a drawing just before Christmas to award an automobile to one lucky patron. "The Big Friendly" remained a central part of life in Ware Shoals until its closing in 1963. It soon became the SEO, or Southern Executive Offices of…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.98%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,377
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,194
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,085
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,062
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  931
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  903
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  894
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  776

Most recent

• M 3 — 2026-02-26
  5 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
• M 2.84 — 2026-02-13
  4 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
• M 2.54 — 2025-08-23
  4 km NNW of Coronaca, South Carolina
• M 3.04 — 2025-08-23
  3 km N of Coronaca, South Carolina
• M 2.88 — 2025-08-23
  3 km NNW of Coronaca, South Carolina
• M 2.7 — 2025-07-05
  11 km ENE of Parksville, South Carolina