Cherokee County, South Carolina: History and Information

Cherokee County, South Carolina

Cherokee County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Gaffney
Year Organized: 1897
Square Miles: 393

Court House:

210 N. Limestone Street
County Administration Building
Gaffney, SC 29340-3136

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Cherokee is named after the Cherokee Native American people.

Demographics:

History

Cherokee County was named for the Cherokee Indians who once made it their home. It was formed in 1897 from parts of Spartanburg, Union, and York counties, and the county seat is Gaffney. During the Revolutionary War at the battle of Cowpens, an important victory for the revolutionary forces, took place there on January 17, 1781. Iron mining was an important activity in this region up to the time of the Civil War, and it is sometimes called the Old Iron District. In the mid-nineteenth century, the resort at Limestone Springs was a popular retreat for lowcountry planters. Writer Wilbur Joseph Cash (1901-1941) was a native of Cherokee County, as is actress Andie MacDowell.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 397 square miles (1,029 km²), of which, 393 square miles (1,017 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (12 km²) of it (1.16%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Cleveland County, North Carolina - north

York County, South Carolina - east

Union County, South Carolina - south

Spartanburg County, South Carolina - west

Rutherford County, North Carolina - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Blacksburg

town

Incorporated Area

- Gaffney (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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