This 1943 ad appeared in the Celebration of Progress brochure. DuPont Crossing was a hub for community activity in St. Andrew’s Parish. It wasn’t a road but more of a conceptual area and very easy to identify. The Seaboard Air Line tracks crossed Savannah Highway and Wappoo Road at DuPont Crossing. This was the location of the Charleston County Market where the train stopped to load vegetables.
Photographs dating in the early 1940s illustrate businesses on three of the four corners of Savannah Highway and Wappoo Road. Albert P Whaley had a service station on one corner and later moved his establishment across Savannah Highway. A service station still functions at this corner. Luther and Grace Bootle ran a service station, grocery, and lunchroom on the corner in front of the Charleston County Market.
St. Andrew’s Parish High School was just down the street on Wappoo Road. Seniors with privileges would walk to the corners for sodas and snacks. Corbett’s Packaging was a little further south on Savannah Highway. One might speculate that the activity of truck farmers bringing produce to the Market for loading would account for three service stations, two grocery stores and a place to eat a mid day meal at this intersection.
But how did the area get to be known as Dupont Crossing? Another ad might suggest a clue. In the ad, Mrs. M. L. DuPont of DuPont Grocery offered lots for sale near the high school at “Price Reasonable .” Maybe the community used the name as a reference because of the land ownership? Sometimes you can hear the conversation: “You know  — where the railroad crosses at Mrs. Dupont’s land.”
There exist many photographs of this intersection from several angles. Luther Bootle had a passion for photo documentation. The over 300 negatives that exist from his work as the photographer for the St. Andrew’s Parish High School Pelican during his senior year is a testament to this. With his parents running the establishment at the corner he had a great opportunity to capture this “hub” of activity in the Parish.
Do you have stories from DuPont Crossing? Contact Donna at westashleybook@gmail.com

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