PREFACE:
     When the announcement was made on November 28, 1950 that the
federal government was going to take over parts of  Barnwell, Aiken and
Alendale counties, six small towns and hamlets had to come to the
realization that they were going to become victims of the Cold War.
These towns were named Dunbarton, Ellenton, Hawthorne, Leigh, Myers Mill
and Robbins.  The largest and therefore most well-known of these six was
the town of Ellenton, which was a very tight-knit community.  In fact,
when people in Aiken and Barnwell counties are asked about the town of
Ellenton, they conjure up images of cold mornings in front of a
pot-bellied stove at he "Long  Store" or lazy days of sunbathing and
swimming in the Three Runs Creek during the hot months.  This imagery
would lead most individuals to picture Ellenton as just a typical  small
southern town.  Although this view is partially true, there is more to
the story of Ellenton than meets the eye.  For example, this small town
made the front page of most national newspapers not just once, but
twice.       The first time was in 1876 during the so-called "Ellenton
Riot".  The second and perhaps more prominent instance was in 1950, when
the federal government announced that Ellenton, along with the five
other towns and several more communities, was to be evacuated.  The
residents,  who were compensated by the government, had to find homes
elsewhere, in order to make way for the building of a nuclear weapons
facility called the Savannah River Plant, now known as the Savannah
River Site.  To this day, many of the former residents of Ellenton have
a difficult time expressing how they felt when they heard the
announcement.  Their families had lived in the town for generations, and
they don't mind telling anyone who asks that there never was and never
could be a community as close and as special as theirs was.  So,
naturally, when  Ellenton was evacuated, most residents moved close to
one another into towns like New Ellenton, which was established by
former Ellenton residents, Jackson, and Beech Island.  There were those
who also moved farther away, but, beginning in 1973, still had the
opportunity to see all of their old friends and family every year at the
Ellenton Reunion.
Ellenton was located approximately twenty-five miles southeast of
Augusta, Georgia, and about two miles from the Savannah River. (Figure 1)
**I do not have any of the picture mentioned**  Although Ellenton was
established in 1873, it does not appear on the census rolls until 1900.
Up until then it was just considered part of Silverton District.  In
1900 the population of Ellenton stood at 254 individuals, of whom 63.8
percent were African American and 36.2 percent  were white.  By 1950,
the population of Ellenton stood at 739 people, 27.2 percent of whom
were African American and 64.6 percent of whom were white.
     Our sample universe included those individuals who lived in town,
as well as those in the surrounding area who looked upon Ellenton as
their home, to a distance of nine miles from the town center (the
railroad depot.)  As was the case in the preceding volume, we gathered
our data through a combination of mail-in questionairies and oral
interviews.
TO BE CONTINUED.