Following the discovery of a "healing" spring and the announcement that a railroad would run through the area, Williamston was chartered in 1852 as a South Carolina spa. Lots were sold for houses, streets were laid out, schools and churches were founded, and several hotels were built. Before the Civil War, Williamston became one of the largest resorts in the South and was known as the "Saratoga of the South," a reference to New York's Saratoga Springs. By 1860, however, a devastating fire had burned two hotels and several other structures, and with the onset of the Civil War the town lost its primary recreational activity. In 1872, Samuel Lander purchased the hotel built to replace those lost in the fire, and the Williamston Female College was founded there on February 12, 1878. After the college was established, the Williamston Hotel opened, giving the town three hotels, yet by 1900 they still could not meet demand for rooms. In 1904 the college moved to nearby Greenwood and became Lander College, while its former building was converted back into a hotel called the Park View Hotel and later renamed the Colonial Hotel. The Colonial Hotel closed in 1924 and was replaced by an elementary school, and in 1965 the old Williamston Hotel was destroyed by fire. Williamston preserves this heritage and welcomes visitors to the town and nearby park to see the famous springs.