South Carolina State...
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South Carolina Counties
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Union County, South Carolina
Union County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Union
Year Organized: 1798
Square Miles: 514 |
Court House: P.O. Box 703
County Courthouse
Union, SC 29379-0000
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Union is said to be named for Union Church.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Union County was named for the old Union Church, erected in 1765 near the
present day town of Union. The early settlers in the area were mainly Scotch-Irish from Virginia and Pennsylvania who
began immigrating to the South Carolina upcountry in the 1750s.
Before white settlers came to what is now Union County, the area was
part of the vast territory claimed by the Cherokee Indians as hunting grounds. There is some evidence the Cherokee
may have inhabited parts of Union County, as some early land grants in the county are described as containing Indian
cabins.
The first white settlers came to Union from Virginia in 1749 and settled on the Pacolet and Tyger rivers and at
Fairforest Creek. In the next few years, other families came from Virginia and Pennsylvania and settled around
Brown’s Creek and Cane Creek.
According to local historian Jeannette M. Christopher, the years between 1763 and the beginning of the Revolutionary
War saw the greatest migration into Union County. People built log cabins, cleared the fertile river and creek
bottoms and planted tobacco, flax, corn, wheat and other grains and grazed their animals. There were few slave
owners in the early days of the county.
The city and county of Union got their names from the old Union Church that stood not far from Monarch Mill. For a
long time the town of Union was known as Unionville, with the name later being shortened. The church was a place for
people of the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian faiths to worship.
During the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Musgrove Mill took place on the Enoree River on August 18, 1780 at the
junction of what is now Union, Spartanburg and Laurens counties. Other battle sites in Union County include Fishdam
Ford and Blackstock Battlefield.
A district court was formed by the General Assembly in the late 1700’s in the upper part of the county in a new town
named Pinckneyville. Located near the junction of the Broad and Pacolet rivers, Pinckneyville was to be the
“Charleston of the Upstate” and its streets were named after streets in that city. Despite settlers, a post office,
inns and a jail, the town never caught on and the court was moved to Union. Interested persons can visit the ghost
town and see the remains of several old buildings, including the courthouse.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 516 square miles (1,336 kmē), of which, 514
square miles (1,332 kmē) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 kmē) of it (0.35%) is water.
Neighboring Counties:
- Cherokee County, South Carolina - north
- York County, South Carolina - northeast
- Chester County, South Carolina - east
- Fairfield County, South Carolina - southeast
- Newberry County, South Carolina - south
- Laurens County, South Carolina - southwest
- Spartanburg County, South Carolina - northwest
Cities and Towns:
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- Carlisle |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Jonesville |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Lockhart |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Union
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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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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Penn Foster High School
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