Varnville

Town History
(population 2,039; land area 12.5 square miles)

The Town of Varnville was first known as the unincorporated village of Dixie, which was settled in 1860. When the Port Royal and Augusta Railroad was built, Dixie Station was established where a road from the Hickory Hill community crossed the tracks. Shortly afterward, A. McBride Peeples laid out a town on the south side of the tracks straddling the road to Hickory Hill.
Varnville Town Hall
James G. Varn and his younger brother, Rev. Little Berry Varn, after whom the Town of Varnville was later named, had a sawmill on the north side of the tracks and sold the right-of-way to the railroad. The Varns then laid out a town on the north side of the tracks. The Town of Varnville was born and a post office opened in 1872.

The town was formally incorporated December 24, 1880. Varnville's history is intertwined with the logging industry, agriculture and the railroad.