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In this faded image on newsprint, Anderson firefighters fight a fire in Hartwell at the Standard Oil Company in 1944.
Sept. 10, 1987
The Hart County Jail was so crowded that the sheriff sent prisoners home.
At the time, Hart County Sheriff Larry Sanders told The Hartwell Sun he had to turn away five bench warrant cases due to overcrowding. He attempted to send them to the city jail, but they were full too. Sanders said of the five men sent home, they “were mostly bad check cases.”
The district attorney at the time said it was a temporary issue, but the grand jury foreman said he was under the impression it was a year-round problem.
A public health official told The Hartwell Sun the jail was difficult to keep in compliance with public health standards, citing insect control, lighting, toilet and shower facilities as well as inadequate medical care as problematic areas.
Eventually, a new facility was constructed, and the current jail is now facing overcrowding issues.
Sept. 8, 1944
A blazing fire that destroyed the local Standard Oil Company plant nearly wiped out Hartwell’s business district.
The fire started when a Standard Oil driver filled his truck with gasoline for the day’s deliveries. The Hartwell Sun reported that within a few seconds flames from burning gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil engulfed the plant and smoke was visible for miles.
After Hartwell firefighters exhausted every effort to combat the flames, the Anderson County Fire Department was contacted and responded, dousing the fire with chemical equipment. The quick response prevented the spread of the fire to adjoining buildings, such as the Texas Company plant and the Hartwell Gin Company’s warehouse among others.
A representative of the company said the losses included the warehouse, two large trucks, 9,000 gallons of gas, 10,000 gallons of kerosene, 6,000 gallons of tractor fuel, 4,000 pounds of greases and 55 barrels of oil, along with valuable equipment and fixtures.
Sept. 11, 1925
Faced with a shortage of cotton crops and a total loss of feed crops, Hart County had to do something to help laborers dependent upon those lost crops.
The county road commission proposed taking out $200,000 in bonds to build roads in Hart County.
The Hartwell Sun reported that the move came at a time when local labor was most needed, due to a county-wide loss of crops. The Sun also said the citizens of Hart County were nearly unanimous for the movement, something The Sun called “the most progressive step the county has ever made.”
The item went into the Oct. 14 election and yielded a ‘yes’ vote for the bonds.