This site and nearby Mineral Spring Park, donated by West Allen Williams in 1842, formed the nucleus of the new Town of Mineral Springs. In 1852, the town received its charter and was renamed Williamston in honor of West Allen Williams. The Williamston Hotel stood here, and in the late 1850's the Mammoth Hotel was built at a cost of $100,000, then an enormous sum, and was the largest building in the state at the time. Both hotels burned in 1860, and all of Williamston's business district was destroyed except Dr. Millwee's Drug Store and an old blacksmith shop. In 1872, Dr. Samuel Lander, a Methodist minister, founded and built the Williamston Female College on this site. The college moved to Greenwood in 1904 and was named Lander College in honor of its founder, who died six months before it opened there. The building later became the Park View Hotel, and after it closed it was converted into an elementary school in 1924. The present building was constructed as Williamston High School in 1939 by WPA labor, and the other building was torn down in 1940. In 1953, when Palmetto High School was built, this building became Williamston Elementary School. When Palmetto Middle School was formed in 1972, it became Williamston Primary School and remained so until 1983, when all students were moved to the new Palmetto Primary School. The property and building were then purchased by the Town of Williamston. Dr. Samuel Lander's son, Dr. W.T. Lander, taught at Lander College, and his grandson, Dr. W.T. Lander, Jr., was principal of Williamston Middle School.