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by Alexia Jones Helsley (Author)
From a home to the fierce Westo tribe to a hub of the equestrian industry, Aiken County has had a huge influence on South Carolina. And some of the structures that mark that history have disappeared. More than two hundred years ago, the Horse Creek Chickasaw Squirrel King held court near North Augusta. The first locomotive built for public transportation, the "Best Friend" from Charleston to Hamburg, first ran in the area. The home of noted businessman Richard Flint Howe hosted both the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and students of the University of South Carolina Aiken. William Gregg and the Graniteville Mill helped shape the textile industry in the state. Author Alexia Jones Helsley details the lost history of Aiken County.
Author Biography
Alexia Jones Helsley--author, historian and archivist--loves to study and write about South Carolina's long and unique history. She grew up in Beaufort and developed a lifelong love affair with the Lowcountry. Currently, she teaches history at the University of South Carolina-Aiken and serves as the university archivist. Among her publications are South Carolinians in the War for American Independence, Beaufort, South Carolina: A History, Wicked Edisto: The Dark Side of Eden and Wicked Columbia. Recently, she published "Dr. Daniel Lesesne Smith and the Spartanburg Baby Hospital: A Chapter in South Carolina Progressivism," in Recovering the Piedmont Past II and "A Girl, a Boy, and a Train" in Our Prince of Scribes: Authors Remember Pat Conroy. A graduate of Furman University and the University of South Carolina, Helsley chairs the Old Exchange Commission and is the recipient of the Governor's Archives Award.
