A History of Kershaw County, South Carolina

L. Glen Inabinet, Joan A. Inabinet

Description

The complex story of the region that is home to South Carolina's oldest inland city

A History of Kershaw County is a much anticipated comprehensive narrative describing a South Carolina community rooted in strong local traditions. From prehistoric to present times, the history spans Native American dwellers (including Cofitachiqui mound builders), through the county's major roles in the American Revolution and Civil War, to the commercial and industrial innovations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Joan and Glen Inabinet share insightful tales of the region's inhabitants through defining historical moments as well as transformative local changes in agriculture and industry, transportation and tourism, education and community development.

Kershaw County is home to some of South Carolina's most notable prehistoric sites as well as the state's oldest inland city, Camden, thus giving the region an impressive and richly textured human history. Still the most familiar icon of the county is an early weathervane silhouette honoring the Catawba Indian chief King Hagler for protecting pioneer settlers. An important colonial milling and trading center, Camden was seized by the British under Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution and fortified as their backcountry headquarters. Eight battles and skirmishes were fought within the modern boundaries of Kershaw County, including the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780, and the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill on April 25, 1781.

Named for Revolutionary War patriot Joseph Kershaw, the county was created in 1791 from portions of Claremont, Fairfield, Lancaster, and Richland counties. Kershaw County developed its local economy through plantation agriculture, an enterprise dependent on African slave labor. Distinctive homes were built on rural plantations and in Camden, and a village of well-to-do planters grew up at Liberty Hill. Six Confederate generals claimed the county as their birthplace, and the area also was home to Mary Boykin Chesnut, acclaimed diarist of the Civil War.

In their descriptions of Kershaw County in modern times, the Inabinets chronicle how the railroad and later U.S. Highway 1 brought opportunities for the expansion of tourism and led to Camden's development as a popular winter resort for wealthy northerners. Small towns and villages emerged from railroad stops, including Bethune, Blaney (later Elgin), Boykin, Cassatt, Kershaw, Lugoff, and Westville. The influx of new money coupled with local equestrian traditions led to an enthusiasm for polo and the creation of the Carolina Cup steeplechase at the Springdale Course.

Aside from early developments in textile manufacturing, industrialization proceeded slowly in Kershaw County. The completion of the Wateree Dam in 1919 gave the region a valuable source of electricity as well as much-needed flood control and a popular new recreational area in Lake Wateree. Despite these incentives for new industry, agricultural ways of life continued to dominate until World War II influenced advances in aviation, communication, and industrialization. In describing these changes, the Inabinets map the circumstances surrounding the building of the DuPont plant which opened in 1950 and the expansion of several other industries in the area.

Through perceptive text and more than eighty images, this first book-length history of Kershaw County illustrates how the region is steeped in a rich history of more than two centuries of struggles and accomplishments in which preserving lessons of the past holds equal sway with welcoming opportunities for the future.

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Sullivan's Island
• Isle of Palms
• Carolina del Sur
• Mulberry Plantation
• Plantation era
• Southern Colonies
• State
• Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
• Isle of Palms, South Carolina
• South
• Slave rebellion
• South Carolina
• Rail transport
• History of the Americas
• Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
• Wateree
• Army National Guard
• United States
• FL
• Local
• KY
• LA
• TN
• MS
• SC
• NC
• AR
• VA
• GA
• Caroline du Sud

Informations

• Publié par: University of South Carolina Press
• Date de parution: 18 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781643364094
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 82 Mo

Extrait

A History of Kershaw County, South Carolina

A History of

KERSHAW COUNTY South Carolina

Joan A. Inabinet

L. Glen Inabinet for the Kershaw County Historical Society

The University of South Carolina Press

©  University of Sout Carolina

Clot edition publised by te University of Sout Carolina Press,  Ebook edition publised in Columbia, Sout Carolina, by te University of Sout Carolina Press, 

www.uscpress.com

Manufactured in te United States of America

                   

he Library of Congress as cataloged te clot edition as follows:

Inabinet, Joan A.  A istory of Kersaw County, Sout Carolina / Joan A. Inabinet and  L. Glen Inabinet for te Kersaw County Historical Society.  p. cm.  Includes bibliograpical references and index.  ISBN ---- (clot : alk. paper)  . Kersaw County (S.C.)—History. I. Inabinet, L. Glen. II. Kersaw  County Historical Society. III. Title.  F.KI   .'—dc  

ISBN ---- (ebook)

Front cover photographs:( ) Green Leaf Villa, Camden, S.C., Historic American Building Survey, ; Carolina Cup steeplecase, courtesy of te Camden Arcives; Cool Spring(s), Camden, S.C., Historic American Building Survey; construction on te Wateree Dam, collection of Kersaw County Historical Society; weater vane effigy of Catawba cief King Hagler atop te Camden clock tower, ca. , courtesy of te Racel Montgomery family; () up stream view of te U.S. Higway  bridge spanning te Wateree River, . Potograps courtesy of te Library of Congress unless oterwise noted

For the people of Kershaw County—past, present, and future

CONTENTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

List of Illustrationsviii Acknowledgmentsxi

Landscapes: An Overview 1 Footpaths: The First Inhabitants 13 Axes and Boundaries: Frontier Settlement 24 Powder Horns and Homesteads: Steady Expansion 37 A mixd Medley: Vigilantes to Revolutionists 48 Redcoats and Homespun: The Revolution 63 New Ways: PostRevolution 84 Cotton and Complexities:18001860115 Broken Ties: War Brought Home172 Festering Controls: Reconstruction195 Iron Rails and Soil Rows: Toward a New Century237 Uneven Steps: The Progressive Era280 Bridging Isolation: The Great War333 Inns, Farms, and Mill Whistles: The1920s353 Empty Pockets: The Great Depression405 Wings of War: The1940s469 Cultural Crossroads: From Midcentury533 Landmarks and Interstate: Into the Twentyrst Century572

Appendix: Kershaw County Places and People591 Notes609 Selected Bibliography667 Index671 About the Authors721

ILLUSTRATIONS

Rock outcroppings at Liberty Hill2 An old road in Lugoff3 Map of the fall line in Kershaw County5 A Carolina bay7 Kershaw county seal12 Relic collection14 Native American pottery16 Adamson Mound18 An old Native American trading path22 Map of Fredericksburg Township and Lynches Fork in177327 St. Julians plat of Fredericksburg in173428 Traces of an old wagon road35 Historical program at the Quaker meetinghouse site39 Lynches River45 King Hagler Tower, circa195047 Map of South Carolina districts,17698457 PreRevolutionary tavern59 Pioneer settlers of Pine Tree Hill60 Battle of Camden site76 Battle of Hobkirks Hill site79 KershawCornwallis House82 Map of South Carolina districts,17859089 Map of South Carolina districts,17919990 Robert Mills courthouse93 Remains of an old plank road99 Peays Ferry crossing the Wateree River100 Wateree River shoals102

Unless otherwise credited in captions, photographs were taken by L. Glen Inabinet.

Riceeld brickwork106 Drakeford House117 Map of Kershaw County in1825127 Liberty Hill planters home128 Woman following an African tradition134 McDowell House155 Bethesda Presbyterian Church and the De Kalb monument163 Remains of the old Wateree Canal167 Remains of the 1828 Wateree bridge170 Mulberry Plantation173 Boy cadets at Mr. Pecks Academy174 Confederate veterans in1914189 Civil War monument at Boykin Mill Pond193 Farmer in an oxdrawn wagon215 Farmers dealing with shortages217 Target used for dueling practice233 Kirkland memorial fountain in Hampton Park235 Kershaw main street241 Historical program at Mather Academy253 Broad and DeKalb streets in1914256 Railroad mural in Elgin284 Highway1railroad overpass between Cassatt and Midway288 Blaney railroad depot290 Hermitage Cotton Mill295 Blindtiger wagons310 Wateree Free Bridge,1910315 Company M,1916335 Ferry between Camden and Lugoff340 Construction work on Wateree Dam342 Wateree Dam343 Wateree Cotton Mill363 Polo match at Kirkwood Hotel373 Golf at Kirkwood Hotel382 Historical pageant,1925399 Memorial on the site of the Cleveland School re400 Camden Hospital402

Illustrations

ix