About Duncan
DUNCAN, S.C. (WSPA) – Duncan has grown a lot since BMW came to the area but long before that the farms are what surrounded Duncan.
Duncan is exactly what you think of when you think of a small town and the people are proud of that and its history.
The town is named after a man named Leroy Duncan who was a farmer in the 1800s when he heard of the railroad passing through from Greenville to Spartanburg.
Local historian Fredrick Tucker said Duncan capitalized on the opportunity and bought 158 acres of land.
“He was thinking that it would be a perfect place for a little town,” Tucker explained.
“He bought up those acres for $1,000 and that stretched from present-day Greer Street to Church Street.”
The railway was established in Duncan around the 1870s and historically this is when the mills would come through, but that wasn’t the case for the town of Duncan.
The town was built only around the railroad.
Tucker, who grew up in Duncan said, when he thinks of the town, he thinks of the railroad.
“If you’re anybody that’s passing through here, you’ll think of it too.”
Stories of the town are what help keep it alive.
Whether it’s about the train tracks that started it all or the monument that’s dedicated to a beloved member of the community.
Mayor Shirley Clopton said, “I feel like we could be the only town that has a monument to our maintenance trash man.”
“His name was Dyke and he was like known in Duncan for picking everybody’s garbage.”
As Mayor Clopton laughed she said, “I don’t know how that came about but I think it’s just great that we still have that monument.”
Mayor Clopton was born and raised in Duncan and a lot of her memories come from those train tracks that sit across from her office in Town Hall.
“When I was a little girl my grandfather owned the only taxi in Duncan. He also hung the mail on the hooks out here for the trains to come by. the train wouldn’t even stop it would fly through Duncan and they used this long hook to grab the bag. He would take me. So, I could sit right here at this intersection and look out the window at the very spot where he would take me to but he wouldn’t let me out of the car. I could still feel that. You know what I mean? When you done something that you love and you can still think and feel yourself back then and see that train go by.”
Tucker hears a lot of stories like that when researching the town and one that gets a few laughs was brought up because of a picture of one of the first cars that drove through town.
“When I showed that picture to an older man that lived here, he said, ‘I remember the first car I saw going down Main Street and it was speeding along at 15 miles an hour.”
“It was brand new and he wasn’t used to it and he was waving at everybody and screaming get out of the way!” Tucker explained.
While cars move much faster now and Main Street is a lot busier these days, Mayor Clopton said, the people of Duncan are proud of their small town.
“I’m just proud of the fact we do still maintain just a cozy, friendly, safe atmosphere for people to live in.”
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