Following the War Between the States and during the Reconstruction Era, southern railroads were in complete disarray, but by the 1880s mergers and new investments brought a "Golden Era of Railroads" into the country and the Pee Dee. In 1888, a section of new rails that would become the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad entered this area, and at this strategic point a depot was constructed. This planted the nucleus of a community that grew as new inhabitants arrived, started businesses, and built homes, creating the town of Latta. The town was named for Robert J. Latta, a York, SC native and railroad surveyor who laid out plans for the station. The first passenger and freight depots were built in 1888, a post office was authorized that year, and the town was incorporated in 1890. What became known as the Latta Branch connected Latta with McColl in 1895 and passed through Mallory, Bingham, Blenheim, Dunbar, and Clio. Increased commercial activity led to construction of a new tobacco warehouse the following year, and by 1903 there were three tobacco warehouses. Until markets later shifted to Dillon and Mullins, Latta was the center of tobacco marketing and the largest in the state.