The Town of McBee: The Little Engine That Could

By Ashley Daniels

Named after railroad executive V.E. “Bunch” McBee, the humble little town of McBee shines bright between neighboring towns Cheraw and Camden, South Carolina.

The railroad town’s namesake, born in 1849, was a pioneer in the building of railroads across the state, such as the Seaboard Airline Railroad Columbia-to-Cheraw line that was built at the depot in McBee, ran through the town and completed in 1900.

Following that milestone, the town of McBee was officially incorporated in 1901. Agriculture production increased and McBee grew so quickly that a new depot was in high demand, so a second Seaboard depot (passenger and freight) was built in 1914.

McBee Railroad Depot

Closed in 1971, that depot today serves as the McBee Depot Library and Railroad Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While the town encompasses only about 2 square miles in the middle of Chesterfield County farmland, McBee’s track record in the railroad industry has made history. It continued in 1980, when the railroad became a subsidiary of the newly created CSX Corporation and in 1986, when the Seaboard name was changed to CSX Transportation.

Now, going off-track, but still of interest, here are some more tidbits about the small town of McBee:

  • McBee is also surrounded by the nearby Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge created in 1939 to provide habitat for migratory birds, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered species, and others. The refuge today is 47,850 acres.
The red-cockaded woodpecker – Photo courtesy of Carolina Sandhills NWR
  • U.S. Route 1, the Blue Star Memorial Highway Number 6, and South Carolina 151 intersect through the center of town.
  • Notable McBee natives include Don King, a defensive tackle in the NFL, and Noah O. Knight, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
  • McBee’s 40-acre recreation complex opened in 2012 and hosts four baseball fields, a football field, soccer field, a 1.1-mile asphalt walking trail, a practice field, and track and field area, with more planned for the future.
  • McBee offers a calendar of cultural events, including The Taste of McBee in March, the McLeod Farms Strawberry, Peach and Fall Festival in May, July and October, and the annual Christmas Parade coming up in December.

For more information on McBee, visit https://www.townofmcbeesc.com/.