Chester, South Carolina lies in the upstate area.

In 1785 most of the people of South Carolina were unaware that a town was being born. It would be a small unassuming town, yet it would be home to thousands. A parcel of land on the hill, the focal point of the town, was purchased to build a courthouse. With the building of the courthouse Chesterville became the Chester Judicial District.

Craven County now gave host to a new city. The people who had left Chester Pennsylvania passed through the Shenandoah Valley to began to build he new town. By the time 1826 rolled around Chester was said to have “25 dwellings, a handsome courthouse, a jail, and male and female academics of respectable standing. The South Carolina House of Representatives heard the Petition for incorporation into a village and was passed and signed by twelve men in 1807.In 1836 Chester had its first town council meeting. Its chairman, John Bennett, brought the meeting into session. There were three wardens of the council, A.Q. Dunovant, George W. Coleman, and John T. McFee. 1894 was to be a monumental moment or the small village. It was then that it was finally incorporated into the city it has become till this day.The next big even of the time was the coming of electricity in 1897. Also during that year came the waterworks, a sewer system and the birth of the Chester Telephone Company.

An amendment in the town charter was enacted in 1873, to give the town council the right to halt building of wooden structures. From that time on most of the buildings you see are the result of that amendment. Sometime in the early 1880’s the Chester Observer was created and in 1869 and became the Chester Reporter that still exist to this day as the Chester News & Reporter.

Sumter National forest is one of the reasons many visit Chester. Most come for the hunting and camping, but it has clean, safe picnic areas as well.

In 1891, City Hall, what was then the Opera Hall, was built. The style of the building is Romanesque Revival. The building once seated 800 people. Because Chester was a major railroad stop, the theater attracted top quality entertainment. A fire in 1929 destroyed the tower and most of the interior. When the building was repaired, the auditorium section was eliminated.
Today the building still houses city and police offices. In 1991 the clock was replaced in the tower to commemorate the 1791-1991 bicentennial.

During excavation while building centennial park they discovered this cistern. The cistern was 1 of 5 that was used until 1897 for fire fighting.

The cistern held 22,000 gallons of water and is 22 feet in diameter. Rain water runoff from the buildings was used to fill the cistern.
In the photo at the top of the page, the cistern is located in the trees behind the monument.

The old Powell theater was restored and used by the local theater group. The marquee was set here for the making of a movie. The left part of the building was once part of the former funeral parlor. The theater itself is listed as one of the most haunted places in the world.

The Chester County jail was built in 1914. In 1976 it was abandon as a newer and more modern facility was built. The building was given to the Chester County Historical society and now houses a museum.