South Carolina from A to Z

“M” is for Maybank, Burnet Rhett (1899-1954). Mayor of Charleston, governor, U.S. senator.

“L” is for Leigh, Sir Egerton (ca. 1732-1781). Lawyer, jurist, councillor. Leigh immigrated to South Carolina in 1753 with his father, the newly--appointed chief justice of the colony.

“J” is for Johnson, William Henry (1901-1970). Painter. William Henry Johnson’s work can be found in museums across the country.

“P” is for partisans. After the fall of Charleston in May 1780, bands of partisans, or irregular soldiers, sprang up to fight royal control of South Carolina during the Revolutionary War.

“O” is for Orangeburg Massacre (February 8, 1968). On the night of February 8, 1968, police gunfire left three young men dying and twenty-seven wounded on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg.

“N” is for Newberry County (631 square miles; 2020 population: 38,434).

“M” is for Manning, Richard Irvine (1789-1836). Governor, congressman.

“L” is for Laurens (Laurens County; 2020 population: 8,929).

“T” is for Timrod, Henry (1828-1867). Poet, essayist. A native Charlestonian, Timrod—hedged by poverty, frail health, and the cataclysm of the Civil War—led a brief tubercular life.

“S” is for Saluda River. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Greenville County, near the North Carolina/South Carolina state line, the North and South Saluda Rivers meet to form the Saluda River.

"R” is for Rice, John Andrew, Jr. (1888-1968). Educator, author. A prominent figure in American higher education, Rice was born in Lee County.

“P” is for Pee Dee River. The Pee Dee is a river system that drains northeastern South Carolina and central North Carolina.

“M” is for Mathews, John (1744-1802). Governor. On December 14, 1782, Governor John Mathews presided over the reoccupation of Charleston by American forces.

"E" is for Ebenezer Colony. Founded in 1734, Ebenezer is twenty-five miles up the Savannah River on the Georgia side. This unique settlement of Lutheran refugees from Salzburg, Austria, was included in the Lutheran Synod of South Carolina until 1860.

“C” is for Charismatics. Charismatics are mainline Christians who speak in tongues and practice such gifts of the Holy Spirit as prophecy and healing.

“C” is for “Carolina.” State song. South Carolina’s oldest official state song is “Carolina,” with words by Henry Timrod set to music by Anne Curtis Burgess.

“C” is for Christian-Jewish Congress of South Carolina. The organization was formed in 1976 as the state’s first organization to foster dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Jews.

"B" is for the Bank of the State of South Carolina. The General Assembly chartered the Bank of the State of South Carolina in 1812—giving it the power to circulate currency and to act as the fiscal agent of the state.

“U” is for the University of South Carolina. The institution was originally chartered as South Carolina College in 1801 and opened in 1805. During Reconstruction, the college became a university and was the only Southern university to be integrated.

"T" is for Taylor, John [1770-1832]. Congressman, governor, U.S. Senator.

"S" is for South Carolina-North Carolina border. In 1735 the two colonies appointed a joint boundary commission.

"P" is for Prehistoric South Carolina. During the last Ice Age human groups may have made their way to what became South Carolina as early as 18,000 years ago—but a time frame of 13,000 years ago is widely accepted by archaeologists.

“M” is for Medical University of South Carolina. At the request of the Medical Society of South Carolina, the General Assembly established the Medical College of South Carolina. It opened in 1824 as a private institution.

“H” is for Hart, Oliver (1723-1795). Clergyman. A native of Pennsylvania, Hart was one of the most influential religious, social, and political leaders of the pre-Revolutionary War South.

“G” is for Gillon, Alexander (1741-1794). Congressman, merchant, naval officer, legislator.