Blackville grew from the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company's construction of a rail line begun in 1830 to connect Charleston and Hamburg near modern North Augusta. John Alexander Black, employed by the company to survey and establish fuel and water stops, selected the site of Blackville as the first overnight stop because it was about one day's train travel from Charleston, then settled his family there, and the town that sprang up took his name. Remnants of the rail bed can still be seen in the middle of Main Street. An Amish-Mennonite community came to the area from Ohio and Indiana in the late 1960s, established a mission church, and grew to about fourteen families in this rural area so they could rear their families in the traditional way. Blackville is also associated with Healing Springs, three miles north of town on South Carolina Highway 3, natural springs on one acre of land deeded to God in 1944 and also known as God's Acre, where legends tell of healings. The Shamrock Hotel, built by Jack Farrell in 1912 to serve railroad travelers such as traveling salesmen and produce buyers, was an elegant three-story brick building with a pharmacy, beauty salon, full-service lobby, restaurant, game room, and thirty rooms for rent.