South Carolina from A to Z

“C” is for Congaree River.  At the fall line in Columbia the Broad and Saluda Rivers form the Congaree River. For little over a mile, the river rolls over rapids, shoals, and interspersed islands before it enters the coastal plain. As is typical of slowly moving mature streams, it meanders through the coastal plain, changing its course frequently. Its main tributaries are Gills Creek, Sandy Run, C...

“C” is for Compromise of 1808. Under the constitutions of 1778 and 1790, the House of Representatives was apportioned to benefit the lowcountry while the majority of the voting (White) population lived in the upcountry. In 1794 the Representative Reform Association was founded and undertook an unsuccessful petition drive to compel the General Assembly to consider reapportionment. In 1808 the Gener...

“C” is for Commons House of Assembly (1670 to 1776) The dominant political institution in colonial South Carolina was the Commons House of Assembly. It served as the lower house of the provincial legislature and was the only popularly elected branch of government and the colony. Over time it evolved from an impotent institution to an imperious political body that jealously guarded its immense auth...

“B” is for Bratton, William (ca. 1742-1815). Soldier, legislator. Bratton was born in Northern Ireland and immigrated with his family to America. In the 1760's the family relocated to South Carolina and settled into the area of present day York County. In 1766 Bratton purchased two hundred acres of land on the south fork of Fishing Creek. During the Revolutionary War, Bratton served as a South Car...

“B” is for Bratton, John (1831-1898). Soldier, congressman. Born in Winnsboro, Bratton attended Mount Zion Institute and later graduated from South Carolina college. He then enrolled at the Medical College of South Carolina and returned to Fairfield District to practice medicine. When South Carolina seceded from the Union, Bratton joined a local volunteer company and was elected as first Lieutenan...

“S” is for South Carolina Educational Television Network. The South Carolina Educational Television Network (SCETV) is a state agency providing educational, cultural, and historic programming to South Carolina through telecom communications. It is also responsible for the state’s emergency preparedness network. SCETV began in 1957 with a resolution by the General Assembly calling for a study of th...

“P” is for Port Royal Naval Station. The conquest of the Sea Islands by the United States Navy in November 1861 was the beginning of more than a century of US naval involvement with Port Royal Sound. With nearly thirty feet of water over the bar at all times, Port Royal Sound is the deepest natural harbor on the Atlantic seaboard south of New York. In 1883 the U.S. Navy began purchasing land on Pa...

“M” is for Mulberry Plantation (Berkeley County). Completed in 1714 Mulberry is one of the most distinctive eighteenth-century houses in America. The building is stylistically unique and has variously been described as having Jacobean, French, and Anglo- Dutch baroque origins. Its design blends seventeenth-century forms with the formality of eighteenth-century Georgian architecture in a unified co...

“G” is for Grosvenor, Vertamae (1938-2016). Writer, culinary anthropologist. A woman with varied interests Grosvenor traveled abroad and became interested in the African diaspora and how African foods and recipes travelled and changed as a result of it. Her first book Vibration Cooking; or The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl , was published in 1970. It is a unique combination of recipes, reminiscen...

“C” is for Congaree National Park. South Carolina's only National Park, Congaree is located on 22,000 acres in the Congaree River floodplain of lower Richland County. Congaree protects the last significant stand of old growth, bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States. The forest is the tallest in eastern North America and one of the tallest temperate deciduous forests in the world...

“C” is for Commission of Indian Trade. In 1707 the Commons House of Assembly created the Board of Indian Commissioners to regulate the traffic between Indian traders and such nations as the Cherokees, Creeks, and Catawbas. The commission issued licenses to private traders. The inability of the board to end abuses by the traders led to the disastrous Yamassee War (1715-1718.) After the war, the Sou...

“C” is for Coming, Affra Harleston (circa 1651-1698). Pioneer of early South Carolina. The Harleston family's property had been so ravaged by the English Civil War that two of the family’s children, Charles and Affra, left for South Carolina in 1669. Affra came on the Carolina as an indentured servant with a two year obligation to her sponsor. When she was free from her indenture, Affra married Jo...

“C” is for Columbia Theological Seminary. An institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the seminary was founded in 1828 in Georgia, and moved to Columbia, South Carolina in 1831. Following the model of Andover and Princeton seminaries, a three-year curriculum was organized around the study of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, church history, and systemic itheology. While Colombia attracted a su...

“C” is for Columbia Museum of Art. The Columbia Museum of Art was established in 1950 as an art, history, and science museum and included the Gibbs planetarium. In 1990 the mission statement was changed to focus entirely on American and European fine, design, and decorative arts from the medieval period to the present period.  In 1998 the museum moved into to a new facility on Main Street. The mus...

“C” is for Columbia Mills. The first textile mill in the world to be powered exclusively by electricity, the Columbia Mills Company was chartered in 1893 with an initial capitalization of $700,000. Work on the mill began in April 1893 and operations officially commenced in April 1894. The success of the Columbia plant revolutionized textile mills by opening the electric era. The new mill specializ...

“C” is for Columbia Metropolitan Airport. The airport, which serves Midlands South Carolina, is located in Lexington County. The Lexington County Airport, a landing area was established at the site about 1940. Prior to World War II passenger flights in Columbia used Owens Field. During World War II, the U. S. War Department acquired the Lexington County field and expanded runways, hangers, roads,...

“C” is for Columbia International University. Founded as the Southern Bible Institute in 1921, the school's name was changed in 1923 to the Columbia Bible College. By the 1930s it was offering not only a four year baccalaureate degree but also had a graduate program. Additional professional programs were established in the affiliated Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions. The major foc...

“B” is for Bragg, Laura (1881-1978). Museum administrator, educator. Born in Massachusetts, Bragg obtained a degree in library science. In 1909 she was hired to be the Charleston Museum's librarian. She was soon promoted to curator of books and public instruction. Bragg developed a southern nature study course and created travelling school exhibits to illustrate it. They were provided to the city’...

“S” is for South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Created by the General Assembly in 1967, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (SCPRT) is charged with promoting tourism in the state, operating a system of state parks, and assisting local governments in the development of recreational facilities and programs. SCPRT is a cabinet level agency with a d...

“S” is for South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Officially formed in 1994, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) combined the nonregulatory programs of the South Carolina Water Resources Commission and Land Resources Commission, the State Geological Survey, the South Carolina Migratory Waterfowl Committee, and the South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Departm...

“S” is for South Carolina Department of Education. The South Carolina Department of Education is the administrative arm of the State Board of Education. The department promulgates and oversees state educational policies for the state's schools, as well as providing services, technical assistance, and assessments. The agency head is the State Superintendent, an elected official. Throughout the earl...

“S” is for South Carolina Department of Commerce. The South Carolina Department of Commerce administers the state's economic development program. Created in 1945 as the Department of Research, Planning, and Development it later became known as the state Development Board. During the late 1940s and 1950's the board sponsored industrial recruitment missions through which governors and state business...

“S” is for South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Located in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) is a state agency responsible for collecting the valuable public records of South Carolina. The General Assembly established the South Carolina Historical Commission in 1894 and in 1905 expanded its mission, making it responsible for the state's archives....

“S” is for South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) was created by the General Assembly in 1967. It replaced the Advisory Council on Higher Education, which had been created in 1962. The Commission serves as a statewide higher education coordinating board for South Carolina's thirty-three public institutions of higher learning. The CHE...

“P” is for Port Royal Island, Battle of (February 3, 1779). The battle of Port Royal Island was part of a larger campaign. On February 2, an amphibious expedition of 150 infantrymen sailed up the Broad River. On February 3, the infantrymen landed on Port Royal Island. The soldiers marched to Port Royal Ferry but found it well protected. While returning to their ships, the British discovered a forc...