Editor’s Note: This is the first of several articles the Tryon Daily Bulletin will publish highlighting topics of historical importance leading up to Independence Day, as the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
Long before Interstate 26, before automobiles became common and before Polk County itself even existed, two narrow ribbons of steel helped determine the future of what would become Tryon and Saluda.
It’s hard to imagine either town without the railroad because, in many respects, the railroad gave birth to both…