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Wallace

History

The Wallace area of Marlboro County was formerly known as Kollock, for a country doctor who lived and practiced in that area.

Dr. Cornelius Kollock was highly respected and much loved and, while the rural community never incorporated as a town, the community bore his name for almost 150 years.

During that time, the late A.J. Matheson, Jackie Drake, and Jimmy Drake built a spur railroad, the Bennettsville and Cheraw Railroad, which connected Bennettsville with Kollock, where the main line railroad between Hamlet, NC, and Cheraw was located.  The opening of this railroad was marked with a train ride and a typical Marlboro County picnic dinner.  This was in 1908.

Kollock continued as the name of this community until 1950, when it was renamed Wallace, honoring Senator Paul A. Wallace, a member of the South Carolina Senate.  Wallace lived nearby and owned much of the land, which he developed in present day Wallace.

All of this growth and change was promoted by Senator Wallace and was precipitated by the arrival of the J.P. Stevens' Delta Mills cotton fabric finishing plants located in the heart of the community at that time.  Senator Wallace built a motel, restaurant, service station and numerous homes on his land to serve the community developing near the new mill.

With development, the schools of this area of the county consolidated and changed too.  Miss Alexina W. Evans of Bennettsville taught at the Kollock school, which was a one-room, frame building well ventilated from the floor up.  Trustees were Methodist lay preacher Rev. Nathan Sweatt and Franklin Quick.  This school, then called Briefly Springs, stood just three miles notheast of the present Wallace School.

This school was combined with one in the Pegues community to form the early Kollock School.  In the last consolidation, the name Kollock School continued to serve the African American children of the area prior to integration of the schools during the 1960s.

In 1951, when the county had only one school district and five school areas, Kollock, New Hope, Irby, Pegues, White's Creek, Pineville and part of Wilson school districts were united to form the Wallace area.

Old buildings were assigned to each grade until the completion of the Wallace Grammar School in 1953.

In 1957, the new high school building, housing pupils through 10th grade, was completed.  Wallace area students were bussed to Bennettsville High School and East Side High School to complete their education for several years, until the present school building, gym, etc., were completed.

While still unincorporated, Wallace has its own Post Office and a number of business establishments.  The county's oldest industry Palmetto Brick Company, is only a few miles down the Great Pee Dee River from Wallace.