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- Campbell's Covered Bridge built in 1909, is the only
remaining covered bridge in South Carolina. Off Hwy 14 near
Gowensville.
- The salamander was given the honor of official state
amphibian.
- The walls of the American fort on Sullivan Island, in
Charleston Harbor, were made of spongy Palmetto logs. This
was helpful in protecting the fort because the British
cannonballs bounced off the logs.
- The City of Myrtle Beach is in the center of the Grand
Strand, a 60-mile crescent of beach on the South Carolina
coast. In the last 25 years, Myrtle Beach has developed into
the premier resort destination on the East Coast.
- South Carolina entered the Union on May 23, 1788 and
became the 8th state.
- David Robert Coker (1870-1938) conducted his early
crop-improvement experiments on the family plantation in
Hartsville. Beginning with 30 experimental cotton selections
and methodically applying the latest techniques in the
scientific breeding of crops, the work of Coker Experimental
Farms played a great role in the agricultural revolution in
the South.
- The state dance of South Carolina is the Shag!
- The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort
Sumter.
- South Carolina is the nation's leading peach producer
and shipper east of the Mississippi River.
- Before being known as the Palmetto State, South Carolina
was known as, and had emblazoned on their license plates,
the Iodine State.
- The only major league baseball player to wear the name
of his hometown on his uniform was pitcher Bill Voiselle. He
wore number 96.
- The Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame features champion
thoroughbred flat racers and steeplechase horses trained in
Aiken.
- The Black River Swamp Preserve is located near Andrews.
This slow-moving river is characterized by high
concentrations of organic carbon, which accounts for the
tea-colored water and gives rise to the diverse habitats in
its widespread floodplain.
- Batesburg-Leesville is home to the annual South Carolina
Poultry Festival held in early May.
- South Carolina's smallest county is McCormick at 360
square miles while the largest county is Horry at 1,134
square miles
- A noble Catawba Indian who befriended early Camden
settlers, King Haiglar is often called "The Patron Saint of
Camden." Today, he reigns over Camden in the form of a
life-sized weather vane which graces the tower of what once
was the circa-1886 Opera House.
- Chapin is known as the Capital of Lake Murray.
- Sumter has the largest Gingko farm in the world.
- Stretching 60 miles from Little River to Georgetown,
South Carolina's Grand Strand is one of the most popular
tourist destinations in the United States.
- The Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel was started in 1856 by a
railroad company and is bored for more than a mile into the
granite heart of fabled Stumphouse Mountain. The coming of
the Civil War in 1859 ended the work on the project. Some
years ago, Clemson University made Blue Mold Cheese in the
tunnel successfully for the first time in the South.
- Tyler Brothers Work Shoe and Boot Company in Wagener
produces 8 major brands of OSHA approved safety footwear,
including such famous brands as Redwing, Georgia, Northlake,
and Wolverine.
- The Board of Public Works in Gaffney built an elevated
water storage tank in the shape of a peach in 1981.
- The Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail covers 66 miles of
the river for which it's named. The Edisto is reputed to be
the world's longest free-flowing "blackwater" stream.
"Blackwater" is a term that not only describes the color of
the tannin-rich water, but also refers to the peaceful rate
of flow that characterizes such rivers.
- The Argent train Engine No. 7 was donated to the town of
Hardeeville upon the closing of the Argent Lumber Company.
This narrow gauge train is a rarity and attracts many people
from across the nation.
- The first boll weevil found in South Carolina is on
display at the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum.
- Duncan Park Baseball Stadium in Spartanburg is the
oldest minor league stadium in the nation.
- Every few years, Irmo has a sighting of some kind of
water monster that inhabits Lake Murray. The monster first
'surfaced' in 1973 when residents of Irmo and Ballentine saw
a cousin of the Loch Ness Monster. It was described in The
Independent News in 1980 as "a cross between a snake and
something prehistoric."
- A 24-mile motorcycle trail and a 26-mile horse trail are
unusual features of Parsons Mountain Park in the Sumter
National Forest.
- The Isle of Palms was originally named Hunting Island
and then Long Island, it's thought to be at least 25,000
years old, and was first inhabited by the indigenous Seewee
Indians.
- Johnston is called The Hub of the Ridge because it is
located at the meeting place of the three river systems
which flow away from the Ridge, a fertile plateau about
thirty miles long between clay hills to the north and sand
hills to the south.
- Johnston is known as the Peach Capital of the World.
- The Lake City tobacco market was established in 1898,
and has grown to become one of the two largest markets in
South Carolina today.
- Sweetgrass basket making has been a part of the Mount
Pleasant community for more than 300 years. Basket making is
a traditional art form that has been passed on from
generation to generation.
- Bomb Island on Lake Murray each spring and summer is the
home of a very unusual event. Each year thousands of Purple
Martins return to this island to roost for the summer. The
island has been declared a bird sanctuary and it is quite a
sight to watch these birds return to Bomb Island each day
around sunset.
- At the Riverbanks Zoological Park in Columbia more than
2000 animals thrive in recreated natural habitats with no
bars or cages.
- Little River is the Gateway to the Grand Strand. Giant
moss-covered oak trees, that are centuries old, line its
waterfront and many streets!
- There is an old saying in Marion that anyone who drinks
water from Catfish Creek becomes infatuated with the area
and wishes to remain there.
- In February 1852 William Burkhalter Dorn discovered the
second richest vein of gold in SC history on the site of the
present town of McCormick.
- Red Spider Lilies were first planted in the US, in the
Willington-Mt. Carmel area when Dr. James Morrow sent them
and other plants from the Orient while he served as surgeon
with Commodore Perry’s expedition to open trade with Japan.
- The introduction of tobacco in 1894 rocketed Mullins
into the Tobacco Capital of South Carolina. As many as 200
tobacco barns sprang up throughout the community. Warehouses
were also constructed and the first tobacco sale took place
on August 28, 1895.
- Housed in a 100-year-old freight depot, the Cowpens
museum is a showplace for relics belonging to the crew of
the USS Cowpens, a famous World War II aircraft carrier.
- Orangeburg is known as the "Garden City" because of its
beautiful Edisto Memorial Gardens. The Edisto Memorial
Gardens displays past and current award winning roses from
the All-American Rose Selections.
- The Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport was the first
airport in South Carolina opening in October 1927.
- Summerville's beauty is mirrored in her motto, "The
Flower Town in the Pines." Since the early 1900's day
tourists have flocked to the town during early spring to
enjoy millions of spring blossoms, particularly azaleas, in
private and public gardens, including the mid-town Azalea
Park.
- Fountain Inn is proud of the town's most famous native
son. Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates lost his leg in a cotton gin
accident at the age of 12; he overcame his tragedy to become
a famous dancer. His signature step was the "Imitation
American Jet Plane," in which he would jump five feet in the
air and land on his peg leg, with his good leg sticking out
straight behind him. During his career, Bates performed more
than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan television show
more than any other artist.
- The Upper Whitewater Falls is the highest cascade in
eastern America; it descends for nearly 411 feet.
- On Nov 2, 1954 Strom Thurmond became the first US
senator elected by write-in vote. Thurmond received 139,106
write-in votes to win his seat. He defeated Democratic
nominee Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes.
- Beginning Labor Day and running through the following
weekend, the South Carolina Apple Festival celebrates the
beginning of apple harvest season in Oconee County, the
largest apple-producing area in the state.
- The Columbia City Ballet, South Carolina's oldest dance
company, has developed into one of the most broadly
supported performing arts organizations in the state.
Thanks to: Joyce
Myers, Beverly Miller, Diana La Rocque, gaitrie, Randy Cox
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