Lena, South Carolina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lena, South Carolina
|
|
|---|---|
 Lena, South Carolina
Location in South Carolina
Lena, South Carolina
Location in the United States
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | South Carolina |
| County | Hampton |
| Elevation | 108 ft (33 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes (Estill) |
29918, 29939
|
| Area code(s) | 803, 839 |
| FIPS code | 45-40975 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1246334 |
Lena (also known as Willingham) is a small community in Hampton County, South Carolina, in the United States. It is not an official town, but an unincorporated community. Lena is located just east of another community called Estill.
Contents
Where is Lena Located?
Lena is found at a specific spot on the map: 32.7535025 degrees North and 81.2151029 degrees West. This location is about 108 feet (or 33 meters) above sea level.
Lena's Early History
The story of Lena is closely connected to the Southern Railroad. This railroad company is now known as Norfolk Southern.
Railroads and Lena
From 1899 until the 1980s, the Southern Railroad had a train line that went through Lena. This line also passed through nearby places like Allendale, Tarboro, and Furman. It was called the "Southern Columbia to Savannah Route."
The main reason for this train line was to help move passengers and goods between the north and south. It connected with another railroad, the ACL (Atlantic Coast Line), at Hardeeville. This allowed trains to travel further south to Florida or north to Charleston.
Another railroad, the Seaboard Air Line, also had tracks nearby. This company is now part of CSX. Their tracks went through different towns like Denmark and Estill.
Over time, the Southern Railroad stopped using parts of its line. Between 1963 and 1970, they closed the tracks between Furman and Hardeeville. By the early 1980s, they stopped all train service south of Blackville. This meant that towns like Lena no longer had train service.
How Lena Got Its Name
Lena was named after a young woman named Allene Thomson Lawton. Her father, Thomas Oregon Lawton, owned the land where the Southern Railroad workers set up their camps.
The railroad company wanted to name their station after Allene. However, her full name, Allene, sounded too much like the nearby town of Allendale. So, they chose her nickname, "Lena," which her father used. This is how the community got its unique name.
Around the same time, the nearby community of Estill was founded. Estill was originally called "Lawtonville." It was renamed after the president of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which also built tracks through that area.
See Also
- In Spanish: Lena (Carolina del Sur) para niños
