Walterboro (original spelling: Walterborough) was founded in 1783, as a summer retreat for local planters looking to escape their
malaria-ridden,
Lowcountry plantations. The original settlement was located on a hilly area, covered with
pine and
hickory trees and called Hickory Valley. Two of the earliest settlers were brothers, Paul and Jacob Walter. The brothers were prosperous, plantation owners, in nearby
Jacksonboro. Paul's small daughter Mary, was taken ill with malaria; a common disease among the families who had plantations in the
marshy areas of the Lowcountry, due to the ground's suitability for rice production. To prevent Mary from succumbing to the deadly disease, the Walter brothers went looking for a healthier location in which to live during the summer months, and came to settle the town; with its later being named in their honor. In 1817, Walterboro was designated as the third
county seat of Colleton County, and has remained such through present-day. This designation was followed by, the construction of a
county courthouse and
county jail in 1821. The courthouse was designed by well-known architect
Robert Mills. The town quickly spread from the original Hickory Valley location, after its population experienced a significant increase; this being fueled successively by, the town becoming the county seat in 1821, and the establishment of a
railroad line that connected the city with
Columbia and Charleston in the 1880s. In 1832, the Irish Catholic community in rural southern Waltersboro (at one point termed Thompson's Crossroads) established a parish called
St. James the Greater Catholic Church, dedicated by Bishop
John England. The community later was known as Catholic Hill. After the church was burned down in 1856, and the
emancipation of the slaves roughly a decade later, the White community largely left the area. The
Black Catholic community maintained their religion for decades without a priest, before a new church was built for them in the 1890s. They became notable in the media in the 21st century, and a documentary on the community was released in 2020. An
airfield was established in the 1930s. In 1942, Walterboro became home to the
Walterboro Army Airfield, a sub-base of
Columbia Army Air Base, and part of the national network of army air training facilities erected across the
U.S. during World War II. The base was established for the purpose of providing advanced air-combat training, to
fighter and
bomber groups. It also hosted the largest
camouflage school in the United States, as well as, a 250-person
prisoner of war camp. In 1944, the airfield changed command and became an advanced
combat training base for individual fighters, primarily the black trainees graduating from
Tuskegee Army Airfield in
Tuskegee, Alabama. Over 500 of the famed
Tuskegee Airmen trained at Walterboro Army Airfield, between April 1944 and October 1945, including individuals training as replacement pilots for the
332nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, along with the entire
447th Bombardment Group. The base closed in October 1945, returning to its origins as a local airfield. The establishment of
Interstate 95 in the 1960s, made the town a prime overnight stop on the road to Florida or New York. Presently, Walterboro is dotted with
historic homes dating back to 1820, and a downtown area that has kept many of its historic buildings. The city has become increasingly known as an
antiquing destination, and is a popular day-trip from Charleston and
Beaufort. ==Geography==