HOA Management In Springdale, SC

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The Town of Springdale, is located in Lexington County

The Town of Springdale, South Carolina, is located in Lexington County. The population per the 2010 U.S. Census was 2,636. The population estimate per the U.S. Census for 2019 was 2,733. Springdale’s town slogan is “Small Town, Big Hearts.”

Coordinates/Location – Latitude: 33°57′34.17″N, Longitude: 81°06′32.98″W.

Elevation above sea level: 227 feet

Total Area of town: 2.73 square miles

Total Area of town land: 2.70 square miles

Total Area of town water: 0.03 square miles

Springdale’s zip code is 29170. The telephone area codes are 803 and 839.

Springdale is within the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The estimated total population for the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area for 2020 was 847,397. The Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the counties of Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland, and Saluda. The Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area is the second largest MSA in the state. In the United States, the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 69^th largest, as measured by population. Greenville, South Carolina’s MSA, is the largest within the state of South Carolina.

Springdale is a relatively new town in that it was only chartered or incorporated as a town in 1955. Before World War II, farming was the primary economic activity of the area that would become the Town of Springdale. This farming and rural origin can be traced back to the arrival of European settlers to the area in the early 1700s. The future Springdale area was an unincorporated rural farming community bordering the cities of Cayce and West Columbia, and this all began to change when the United States Army Air Corps first arrived in 1940.

The original Lexington County Airport, which laid south abutting the future town limits of Springdale, was just a small airfield situated on a knoll. This airfield was established around 1940 and had an elevation of 235 feet. Recently constructed, there was not a great deal of air traffic, and It was not a commercial passenger airport. At this time, commercial passenger flights from the area were being flown into and out of Columbia Municipal Airport (current name – Jim Hamilton–L.B. Owens Airport) located in the southern part of Columbia.

The United States Army Air Corps’ 105th Observation Squadron, a National Guard squadron that had been activated, began using the Lexington County Airport at the end of 1940. In 1941, the Army Air Corps took control of the Lexington County Airport and began an aggressive construction plan. The construction included three concrete runways, hangers, and a control tower. During this construction, the 65th Observation Group was activated in September 1941. The 65^th was comprised of the National Guard squadrons, 105th, 112th, and 121^st that had been called up for active service. The 65^th participated in the “Carolina Maneuver” from October through November 1941.

At the start of World War II, the Lexington County Air Field was activated as the Columbia Army Air Base (AAB). The airbase was designated part of the Third Air Force’s III Air Support Wing. The III Air Support Wing’s primary tasks were training army air force personnel for support operations and assist in the training of ground forces personnel. The III Air Support Wing was responsible for antisubmarine patrols along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

On February 9, 1942, the 17th Bombardment Group comprised of medium bombers, the B-25B Mitchell medium bomber, arrived at the Columbia Army Air Base. The 17^th Bombardment Group originally arrived to begin performing antisubmarine patrols on the east coast. Upon arrival, volunteers were sought out from their ranks for a secret and dangerous mission. The mission being the aircraft carrier-based Doolittle Raid on Japan on April 18, 1942. However, the Doolittle Raiders did not train for the mission at the Columbia Army Air Base.

The Columbia Army Air Base’s primary military role for most World War II was training crews and replacement crews for B-25 Mitchell bombers. However, in February 1945, the Columbia AAB was reassigned from the Third Air Force to the First Air Force. With this change, crew and personnel training went from B-25 Mitchell bombers to training for Douglas A-26 Invader light bombers. In the summer of 1945, with the war needs for light bombers and their crews, training began to decrease. After the defeat of Germany, heavy long-range bombers, such as the B-29 Superfortress, were what was needed in the ongoing fight against Japan in the Pacific theater of war. After the defeat of Japan in September of 1945, air units were deactivated at the Columbia AAB in September and October.

The Columbia AAB on November 30, 1945, was “partially inactivated,” reducing the roughly 5,000 officers and enlisted men down to around 30 military personnel. The other personnel and military activities were transferred to Shaw Field near Sumter, South Carolina. Until the final disposition of the airbase was determined, commercial passenger airlines were going to be allowed to utilize the facilities and runways. Eastern Air Lines and Delta Air Lines were the first two air carriers to be approved to use the airbase shortly after this transition. However, both airlines did not begin flying out the former AAB until January 19, 1947.

The War Assets Administration formally transferred the former airbase to Lexington County on April 7, 1947. Then Lexington County leased the airbase to the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission to handle the operations. At this point, there were already eleven daily commercial passenger flights from the former airbase. At the time, this was the largest commercial airport in South Carolina and what would become Columbia Metropolitan Airport. More than 1.3 million passengers passed through Columbia Metropolitan Airport in 2019.

The arrival of the Columbia Army Air Base in 1941 changed the future Springdale area forever. The Columbia Army Air Base was south of the future Springdale and is not today within the town limits. Nonetheless, the airbase had a huge economic and development impact on Springdale that continues through the present day.

The construction of the airbase, along with the influx of military personnel and support personnel, was a huge economic driver to the area that led to the development of the future Springdale area. The airbase’s 350-bed hospital was converted to an Opportunity School, an adult education center that offered extension courses and vocational courses to returning veterans and other South Carolina residents. South Carolina State Troopers were trained at the old airfield after the war. In 1947, 998 acres of the airbase were transferred to the state of South Carlina for future development. Some of the old base housing, the Wilber Wright housing project, are now apartments.

The Richland-Lexington Airport District was formed in 1962 and has managed the airport ever since. The Richland-Lexington Airport District board was comprised of the twelve-member Richland-Lexington Airport Commission. In 1965, a new terminal was completed, and this terminal went under a $50 million renovation in 1997.

Up until the airbase and World War II, Springdale was a rural farming community. Housing and suburbs began to replace farmland. The paving of South Carolina Highway 602 or Platt Springs Road in 1948 became the de facto “Main Street” of Springdale.

As the entire Columbia area grew after World War II, residents living in the future Springdale were concerned about possible forced annexation by nearby municipalities of West Columbia and Cayce. In March of 1955, twenty residents organized and put into motion with the South Carolina General Assembly a plan to charter the Town of “Sherwood.” This town proposed town would include the area between Boston Avenue, Columbia Airport, Watling Road, Black Snake Road, Rainbow Drive, and Route 215.

A vote of the area’s residents was held on June 17, 1955, and fifty-nine residents voted. The referendum first asked for a vote on incorporation or to reject incorporation. If yes on incorporation, what form of government or governing body, and then the town name. A vote of thirty-five to twenty-four decided for incorporation, a council form of municipal government with a mayor, and a town name of Springdale. The name “Springdale” not only beat out Sherwood but Long Branch and Granby. Reportedly, “Springdale” was chosen because of all the springs in the immediate area.

Today, the town municipal offices, town hall, and police department are located at 2915 Platt Springs Road. Reportedly, the town council held their first meetings in parked cars on this site before they had the town hall. The material to construct the town hall and police department were reportedly donated by local businessmen. The Springdale Woman’s Club had a barbecue to raise funds for bathroom fixtures and raised more than enough to include a kitchen sink.

When Springdale was incorporated, there were around 300 residents. From this 1955 point to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population has grown to 2,636. The population estimate was 2,733 per the U.S. Census for 2019. The 2.73 square miles of town has a mayor with six council members.