Greenwood County, South Carolina: History and Information

Greenwood County, South Carolina

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

County Seat: Greenwood
Year Organized: 1897
Square Miles: 456

Court House:

528 Monument Street
County Courthouse
Greenwood, SC 29646-2643

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Greenwood County takes its name from its county seat, Greenwood. The town of Greenwood was named around 1824 for the plantation of an early resident, John McGehee.

Demographics:

History

Greenwood County takes its name from its county seat, Greenwood. The town of Greenwood was named around 1824 for the plantation of an early resident, John McGehee. Greenwood County was formed in 1897 from parts of Abbeville and Edgefield counties, which were originally part of the old Ninety Six District. This part of the backcountry was not settled until the mid-eighteenth century. The town of Ninety Six was established as a frontier trading post around 1730, and it was the site in November 1775 of one of the first South Carolina battles of the American Revolution. In May 1781 American forces besieged the British-held Star Fort at Ninety Six for over a month but were forced to withdraw when British reinforcements approached. The arrival of the railroad in 1852 stimulated cotton growing and textile manufacturing in this area. Local plantation owner Francis Salvador (1747-1776), who was killed fighting Cherokees during the Revolutionary War, was the first Jewish person elected to the state legislature. U.S. Congressman Preston Smith Brooks (1819-1857) and educator Benjamin Mays (1894-1984) were also residents of Greenwood County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 463 square miles (1,199 km²), of which, 456 square miles (1,180 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (1.60%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Laurens County, South Carolina - north

Newberry County, South Carolina - northeast

Edgefield County, South Carolina - southeast

Saluda County, South Carolina - southeast

McCormick County, South Carolina - southwest

Abbeville County, South Carolina - west

Cities and Towns:

- Greenwood (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Hodges

town

Incorporated Area

- Ninety Six

town

Incorporated Area

- Troy

town

Incorporated Area

- Ware Shoals

town

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."

South Carolina State...

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South Carolina Counties

South Carolina Counties

Greenwood County, South Carolina

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

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Geography

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Online High Schools

County Resource Guide