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Historic well deemed probable cause of sinkhole in town square web posted March 6, 2009  EDGEFIELD – The CSRA
Testing and
Engineering firm met with Edgefield Mayor Ken Durham and Public Works
Director David Coleman (Left) on the town square Thursday morning to
examine
the sinkhole that appeared over the past week, which grew to an area
between eight and ten feet in diameter. Core samples were taken as well
as a testing of the stability of the soil in the area. It is believed
that the old town well may be the culprit. “We’ll know more when we
hear back from the engineers,” Mayor Durham said.After the test results are examined a course of action will commence to prevent any further collapse or soil instability next to the Confederate monument. If the sinkhole is in fact the remains of the old town well, a possible solution would be to dig down several feet and place a few feet with crush and run, or possibly larger gravel, and backfill with “flowable fill”, a type of liquid concrete that will find its own level and seeps into crevices and will stabilize the soil above it once hardened.  County
Archivist Tricia Glenn provided the town and engineers with
historical photos of the old town well that supplied water for the
businesses on the square as well as for livestock, horses, and mules
for over 150 years, in an effort to confirm its location with the
historical buildings such as the county courthouse used as reference
points. Mayor Durham seemed convinced it was the old well. “Looking at the pictures it (the location) seems about right.” No cost estimates to repair the site will be available until the recommendation from the engineering firm has been received. The current location of the town square and the Confederate monument has changed over the years. The monument once stood in the middle of Main Street (pictured above) while the square and public well were located in a closer proximity towards what is now the Plantation Hotel, which had not been constructed at the time. In August of 1872 a notice in the Edgefield Advertiser stated, “We have been requested to call the attention of the Town Authorities to the fact that the public well is in bad condition. The water is impure. The well needs cleaning out. And remember, Messrs. Councilmen, that such business as this ought not to be postponed a single day.”  By 1913 the
Edgefield Chronicle stated that due to a water tower filled
with water from nearby Beaver Dam Creek (erected after the great fire
of 1892 that leveled almost half of the square) placed next to the well
was
leaking causing the well water not to be fit for drinking and implied
that if the council did not act the people would. “Why Council should
hesitate about the matter is something that even some members of that
body cannot understand. When compared with the loss of one human being,
the cost of remedying the situation should not be considered for a
moment. Should Council fail to act in this matter, it will become
necessary for the citizens to take a stand and remove the nuisance.”In February of 1921 the water tower, well structure, and pump were sold at auction and in April of the same year the well was filled in as the old square was leveled. The area around the present town square and Main Street were paved for the first time in 1924. The paving reached from the square to the railroad station. Historical facts and photos curtsey of the Edgefield County Archives and Archivist Tricia Glenn. © Copyright 2009
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