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The history of the Town of Norris actually begins with the establishment of the Town of Cateechee.
The concept began in the dreams and imagination of Colonel Daniel Keating Norris.
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| Colonel Daniel Keating Norris, founder of Norris Cotton Mill. |
Colonel Norris was a wealthy cotton planter of upper Anderson County as the nineteenth century began drawing to a close. In 1877,
Colonel Norris moved to the upstate from Vance, in the South Carolina low country. As time went on, Colonel
Norris began to focus on building a manufacturing plant in which to produce cotton cloth. Colonel Norris
interested his two brothers along with others to invest in this new venture. This cotton mill was the first for
Pickens County and construction began in 1895 with the construction of a dam on the Twelve Mile River. The
community that sprang from this new mill construction was affectionately called Cateechee. Cateechee was the
name of the legendary Indian maiden who had ridden from Keowee Town above Six Mile all the way to Ninety Six,
SC to warn settlers there of an impending attack by the Cherokee. Her lover was one of the settlers. Colonel
Norris named the mill after himself, and the Norris Cotton Mill was established in 1896.
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The Bank of Norris, sometime before the Great Depression. |
A family in front of their home. This is thought to be one of the first houses in Norris. |
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Henry Bowen's sawmill in what is now the Norris community. Mr. Bowen is standing on the right
on the platform, his brother John Bowen is sitting to the left of Hamilton of Easley in the left corner
of the picture. |
With the boon from the establishment of the Norris Cotton Mill, the thriving little farming community nearby
to Cateechee is now known as the Town of Norris. At the establishment of the Norris Cotton Mill in Cateechee,
the Town of Norris had a large number of lumber mills. A special rail siding was even required for shipment
of the lumber goods to far-off customers. Thus the name Bowen's Sidetrack or Siding was adopted in honor of
Henry Bowen and his extremely large saw mill operation located near the tracks. A news account on December
1899 said "The man who has done most for the building of our little town is Mr. Henry Bowen, the popular sawmill
man." Bowen's Sidetrack was later named Norris Station in honor of Col. D.K. Norris. Following suit, the Town
of Norris is also named in honor of Col. D. K. Norris.
The Town of Norris is located in Pickens County in the upstate of South Carolina and was established October 16th 1907. The estimated population
in 2003 was 860. As you might have guessed, the Town of Norris is a very small community with deep roots in religion, farming
and mills. The Town of Norris sits between the similar small towns of Liberty and Central. Located near our small
community are Southern Wesleyan University, Clemson University and Tri-County Technical College.
Much of the information displayed here was extracted from the book "The Cateechee Story" by Jerry Alexander.
These two communities are separated by a mere 3 miles and their histories can hardly be separated as their
growth and events parallel each other. If you would like to learn more about Norris, SC or Cateechee, SC you
will undoubtedly find this book very interesting. |
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