South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Buffalo Mill Historic District, Union County (Buffalo)
S1081774402401 S1081774402402 S1081774402403 S1081774402404 S1081774402405
Main Mill
Building
Main Mill
Building
Clock Tower Detail
Main Mill
Building
Bell Tower Detail
Power House/
Engine and
Bolier Room
Ice Factory
S1081774402406 S1081774402407 S1081774402408 S1081774402409 S1081774402410
Office Building Office Building
Main Entrance
Office Building
Terrazzo Floor
Office Building
Stained Glass Dome
Office Building
Marble Fountain
S1081774402411 S1081774402412 S1081774402413 S1081774402414 S1081774402415
Warehouse Building Company Store Company Drugstore
and Bank Building
Buffalo School Mill Village
Overview

Page 1 of 2 Next

The Buffalo Mill Historic District is significant as an excellent collection of historic resources associated with the textile industry in South Carolina from the early-to-mid-twentieth century. The mill complex, including such resources as the main mill, mill office, power house, ice factory, mill warehouse, company store, and company bank/drug store, is a particularly intact collection of early-twentieth century mill and mill-associated buildings. It is also significant for its association with W. B. Smith Whaley, a prominent engineer whose firm designed numerous textile mills in the state, including mills in Camden, Columbia, Lancaster, Orangeburg, and Union. The mill village, including supervisors’ and operatives’ housing as well as auxiliary resources such as a school and a baseball field/park, is a particularly intact collection of other mill-associated resources. The mill complex and village, together with their setting, represent perhaps the best extant example of a South Carolina mill town. The district includes 192 contributing properties and 98 noncontributing properties. The mill building and most other Whaley-designed buildings at Buffalo are typical industrial designs with applied stylized Romanesque Revival detailing. This is achieved primarily through round-headed arches, polychromed brick, and decorative brick work including belt courses and corbelling. A major exception is the mill company office which has a less traditional exterior with its pyramidal roofing, battered pier belvedere, wide bracketed overhang and lavish American Renaissance interior. The mill housing varies from large, free-classic, Queen Anne supervisor’s houses, to shingle-style bungalows, to simple, one-story, lateral-gable, workers residences. Listed in the National Register October 10, 1990.

View a map showing the boundaries of the Buffalo Mill Historic District.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition, the Historic Resources of Textile Mills in South Carolina Designed by W. B. Smith Whaley includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.

Most National Register properties are privately owned and are not open to the public. The privacy of owners should be respected. Not all properties retain the same integrity as when originally documented and listed in the National Register due to changes and modifications over time.

Images and texts on these pages are intended for research or educational use. Please read our statement on use and reproduction for further information on how to obtain a photocopy or how to cite an item.


Images provided by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.