Yemassee, SC (YEM)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2012

$1,577,240

Station Ridership

FY 2012

14,624

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Yemassee station, originally a Charleston and Western Carolina Railroad Depot built circa 1955, consists of a covered platform on the northwest side of the northeast-southwest tracks, a small parking lot and a building; the building is currently closed to passengers. The Yemassee Revitalization Corporation has purchased the depot building from CSX and completed the transfer of ownership on September 17, 2010. The community gathered at the depot on that occasion to celebrate as a representative from CSX presented the deed to Mayor J.L. Goodwin. The town has also purchased approximately 0.64 acres of adjoining land from CSXT in 2010.

The Yemassee Revitalization Corporation (YRC), a Yemassee nonprofit organization formed in 2008, plans to restore more of the downtown to stimulate the local economy, beginning with the Amtrak station. They are working on securing funding for the station renovation project, which is estimated at about $500,000. The group plans to apply for grants and has collected $85,000 in private donations toward this effort as well. The corporation hopes to restore the depot to an early 20th-century look, with a pitched roof and board-and-batten siding. The loading dock must be demolished before construction can begin, and with permits in hand, they are, in the spring of 2011, removing the debris.

The station parking lot stormwater plans have been approved and estimates are being prepared for the railroad right-of-way drainage improvements, with site plans in review by Hamilton County. The YRC has hired Charles Brightwell to complete the station building's construction design, which will be used to obtain bids. The design work is 25% complete.

Yemassee is a small town on the border between Beaufort and Hampton Counties in South Carolina. The town takes its name from the Yamassee, an influential Native American tribe that was an important ally of the South Carolinian settlers until the Yamassee war of 1715.

In 1864, General Sherman’s Union army came through Yemassee on its march to the sea from Atlanta, systematically burning public and private buildings. All of the churches in the area were destroyed except for the Presbyterian Church, which was used as a hospital by the Union army. Blood stains are still visible on the floor.

Between 1914 and 1964, the Marine Corps used the Yemassee depot as a gateway to its Parris Island Recruit Training Depot. More than 500,000 recruits have passed through the train station at Yemassee; half of them came during World War II. Because of this traffic, in 1942 the Marine Corps leased a facility from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to house incoming recruits. The barracks still stands today, and townspeople are seeking to restore this historical structure and open a museum in it.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Auld Brass Plantation house and outbuildings, which were built between 1940 and 1951. The plantation lies just outside the town limits of Yemassee, and is famous for having no right angles in it. It is said that W. Somerset Maugham also wrote his book, The Razor’s Edge, near Yemassee.

Today, Yemassee is experiencing population growth and a small building boom due to its proximity to Hilton Head Island and Beaufort. The main local festival is the annual Shrimp Festival in September, as shrimp baiting is a major occupation in this coastal area.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or baggage services at this facility. Yemassee is served by four daily trains.