Woodruff will celebrate its 150th anniversary with music, fireworks and a time capsule (2024)

WOODRUFF — When it incorporated in 1874, the city of Woodruff's population was under 200 and its economy relied on farming.

At 150, it's changed. It became a center of trade after the railroad was built, then saw industry grow. The latest major news is BMW Group building a$700 million high-voltage battery assembly plant off S.C. Highway 101, which will create 300 jobs.

And Woodruff now has about 5,000 residents, with 4,000 houses scheduled to be built as it prepares to have18,000 people by 2029.

To celebrate the city's 150th anniversary, a time capsule will be buried at McKinney Park on East Pine Street near downtown during a ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. on June 28. The night will include live music and fireworks.

Woodruff City Administrator Lee Bailey said the time capsule will be opened in 2074. A monument at the site will mark the time capsule's location.

"We tried to come up with something as part of the 150th anniversary celebration and thought it would be really cool to do a time capsule," Bailey said. "The time capsule will be inside a round fiberglass enclosure. It's going to contain this year's fiscal budget, our current land use zoning ordinance, maps of the current city limits, photos of downtown from the 1920s, old newspaper articles and memorabilia from BMW."

The time capsule will also include aerial photos of the city's downtown from 2024 and information about the new Woodruff High School currently under construction.

Two Woodruff natives— Toni Sloan and Kenneth Gist— have spent most of their lives in the city.

Sloan has served as a member of Woodruff City Council for the past 18 years. Gist was first elected to council in 2002 and was later elected the city's mayor in 2012 where he continues to serve. They are excited to soon celebrate the city's 150th anniversary.

Gist can remember a time when the city's economy was bleak— like when two textile plants closed in the 1990s —and there were few opportunities for advancement. Circ*mstances have changed. With the new BMW plant coming, Gist said it'll help restart the area's economy, which has drawn more interest from national retailers and developers.

"There's been a lot more excitement over the past five years," Gist said. "Downtown really used to be a ghost town. There's now a lot more things to do. The overall changes have been drastic. We have seen downtown go from nothing to something."

Gist said the city has a lot to celebrate. Sloan agrees.

"I was born and raised here," Sloan said. "I saw what happened when the mills closed and where we are now. Things are exciting again. The 150th anniversary celebration is going to commemorate our journey."