Richland County · Marker 40-225
Columbia Truck Terminal
520 Gervais St., Columbia
Front inscription
This was the site of the Columbia Truck Terminal, a truck stop opened in 1940 by M.D. Hicklin, W.T. Cassels Sr., and C.L. Fuller Jr. It included a service station and two-story building with sleeping quarters, restaurant, and dance hall. Newspapers said it was the first such establishment in the city. The Terminal adjoined a warehouse first used by Hicklin’s trucking company and later by Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL) from 1950 to 1955. It no longer stands.
Southeastern Freight Lines
This is the original site of Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL), a regional U.S. trucking company. Its roots go back to M.D. Hicklin Motor Trucker Inc., a firm chartered in 1934 that W.T. Cassels Sr. and C.L. Fuller Jr. acquired in 1945 and renamed Southern States Motor Lines. The company split in 1950 at which time Cassels founded SEFL and continued to operate at this site. SEFL relocated to West Columbia in 1955.