Editing Union County, South Carolina (section)

===Cotton Mills and industrialization===
The first cotton mill was built at [[Lockhart, South Carolina|Lockhart]] around 1894; it was shortly followed by another in Union and [[Jonesville, South Carolina|Jonesville]]. Around 1900, a mill was built west of Union and the town of [[Buffalo, South Carolina|Buffalo]] sprang up around it. Workers, or operatives as they were called, lived in company-owned housing and obtained their food and other household goods from the company store. Many workers came from the mountains of North Carolina, where farming was difficult and outside work scarce.<ref name="auto"/>

[[File:Cross Keys House.jpg|thumb|Cross Keys House in the Cross Keys community. Built around 1812–14.]]
In 1897, the Draytonville and Gowdeysville townships were removed from Union County to form part of [[Cherokee County, South Carolina|Cherokee County]].<ref name="auto"/>

The turn of the century saw continued progress, as improvements were made in the city of Union and throughout the county. Roads were being paved and the automobile was introduced as new businesses appeared along the Main Street area.<ref name="auto"/>

The Great Depression brought difficulties to the mill village, as pay decreased for workers. Meanwhile, in the county's rural areas, farmers suffered much less than those living in the city since they grew most of what they consumed. In the 1930s, the federal government bought large portions of poor quality land in southern Union County and established the [[Sumter National Forest]]. This land had been planted in cotton for many years and was overworked. Government programs like the [[Civilian Conservation Corps|CCC]], [[Public Works Administration|PWA]], and [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] put many Union County residents back to work, and government money helped improve the county's water and sewage plants and public roads. Many Union natives enlisted in the Second World War while developments continued in both urban and rural areas of the county. Cotton production and agricultural acreage was steadily declining and by 1944 Union County was 53 percent "forest land." The automobile had changed the lifestyle of mill workers because now they could drive to work and were no longer required to live in the proximity of the mill villages.<ref name="auto"/>
[[File:Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Mill Building, SC Route 215, Buffalo (Union County, South Carolina).jpg|thumb|214x214px|Buffalo Mill in Buffalo]]