Lake Marion – Indian Bluff Park – Eutawville, South Carolina
Duncan Park Ballpark in Spartanburg is the oldest minor league stadium in the nation.
Every few years, Irmo sees a kind of water monster inhabiting Lake Murray. The monster first appeared in 1973 when residents of Irmo and Ballentine saw a cousin of the Loch Ness monster. It was described in 1980 in The Independent News 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 called Hunting Island and then Long Island, said 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 point of the three river systems that flow away from the ridge, a fertile plateau, about thirty miles long, between clay mounds in the north and sand dunes in the south.
Johnston is known as the peach capital of the world.
Founded in 1898, Lake City Tobacco Market has become one of South Carolina's two largest markets today.
Sweetgrass basketry has been part of Mount Pleasant for more than 300 years. Basket making is a traditional art form that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Bomb Island on Lake Murray every spring and summer is home to a very unusual event. Each year thousands of Purple Martins return to this island to sleep for the summer. The island has been declared a bird sanctuary and it is a beautiful sight to see these birds returning to Bomb Island every day at sunset.
More than 2,000 animals thrive in natural habitats without lattices or cages at Columbia River's zoos park.
Little River is the gateway to the Grand Strand. Huge moss-covered oak trees, which are centuries old, line the waterfront and many streets!
There is an old saying in Marion that anyone who drinks water from Catfish Creek wants to fall in love with the area and stay there.
In February 1852, William Burkhalter Dorn discovered the second richest gold vein of SC history on the site of today's McCormick.
Red spider lilies were first used in the US, in Willington-Mt. Carmel area, as Dr. James Morrow sent her and other Oriental plants while serving as a Surgeon with Commodore Perry Expedition to open trade with Japan.
The introduction of tobacco in 1894 spurred Mullins into the tobacco capital of South Carolina. Up to 200 tobacco stalls were created throughout the municipality. Warehouses were also built and the first tobacco sale took place on August 28, 1895.
Located in a 100-year-old freight yard, the Cowpens Museum is a relics depot for the USS Cowpens crew, a famous WWII aircraft carrier.
Orangeburg is known as "Garden City" for its beautiful Edisto Memorial Gardens. Edisto Memorial Gardens features past and present award-winning roses from the All-American Rose Selections.
Summerville's beauty is reflected in her motto "The Flower Town in the Pines". Since the early 20th century, tourists have been pouring into the city to enjoy millions of spring flowers, especially azaleas, in private and public gardens in the spring, including Azalea Park in the center of the city.
Fountain Inn is proud of the city's most famous 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 jumped five feet in the air and landed on his peg, his good leg sticking out from behind him. Throughout his career, Bates performed more than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan TV show more than any other artist.
The Upper Whitewater Falls is the tallest cascade in East America; it descends for almost 411 feet.
On November 2, 1954, Strom Thurmond became the first US Senator to be elected by a written vote. Thurmond received 139,106 written votes to win his place. He defeated Democratic candidate Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes.
The South Carolina Apple Festival starts on Labor Day and ends the following weekend. It celebrates the beginning of apple harvesting in Oconee County, the state's largest apple-growing region.
Columbia City Ballet, South Carolina's oldest dance company, has become one of the most widely supported state performing arts organizations.
Built in 1909, Campbell's Covered Bridge is the only covered bridge in South Carolina. Off Highway 14 near Gowensville.
The salamander received the official amphibian title.
The walls of the American fortress on Sullivan Island in the port of Charleston consisted of spongy palmetto tree trunks. This helped to protect the fort as the British cannonballs ricocheted off the tree trunks.
The city of Myrtle Beach is located in the center of Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of beach on the South Carolina coast. Over the past 25 years, Myrtle Beach has become the premier East Coast resort.
South Carolina entered the Union on May 23, 1788 and became the eighth state.
David Robert Coker (1870-1938) performed his early harvest enhancement experiments on the family plantation in Hartsville. The work of Coker Experimental Farms began with 30 experimental cotton selections and the methodical application of the latest techniques in the scientific breeding of crops and played a major 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 in Fort Sumter.
South Carolina is the country's leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi.
Before South Carolina was known as Palmetto State, South Carolina was known 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 launcher Bill Voiselle. He was wearing number 96.
The Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame offers trained thoroughbred flat racers and steeplechase horses in Aiken.
The Black River Swamp Preserve is located near Andrews. This slow-moving river is characterized by high concentrations of organic carbon, which is responsible for the teefarbene water and brings forth the diverse habitats in its sprawling floodplain.
Batesburg-Leesville hosts the annual South Carolina Poultry Festival in early May.
South Carolina's smallest county is McCormick at 360 square miles, while Horry's largest county is at 1,134 square miles
A nice Catawba Indian, who has become friends with early Camden settlers, is often referred to as "Patron Saint of Camden" by King Haiglar. Today he dominates Camden in the form of a life-size weathervane, which adorns the tower of the former opera house from 1886.
Chapin is known as the capital of Lake Murray.
Sumter has the largest gingko farm in the world.
South Carolina's Grand Strand stretches 60 miles from Little River to Georgetown and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States.
Founded in 1856 by a railroad company, the Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel is more than a mile long bored into the granite heart of the legendary Stumphouse Mountain. The beginning of the civil war in 1859 ended the work on the project. Some years ago, Clemson University successfully brought Blue Mold Cheese into the tunnel for the first time in the south of the country.
Wagener's Tyler Brothers work shoes and boots company produces 8 major brands of OSHA approved safety shoes, including such well-known brands as Redwing, Georgia, Northlake and Wolverine.
The Gaffney Public Works Committee built an elevated water tank in the shape of a peach in 1981.
The Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail covers 66 miles of the river after which it is named. The Edisto is considered the longest free-flowing black water stream in the world. "Blackwater" is a term that describes not only the color of the tannin-rich water, but also the peaceful flow rate that characterizes such rivers.
Argent Train Engine # 7 was donated to the city of Hardeeville following the closure of the Argent Lumber Company. This narrow gauge railway is a rarity and attracts many people from all over the country.
The first weevil found in South Carolina is exhibited in the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum.
South Carolina Fast Facts & TriviaGene Wright . South Carolina Fast Facts & Trivia
