South Carolina from A to Z

“B” is for Brown, Lucy Hughes (1863-1911). Physician. Brown, a native of North Carolina, completed a medical degree at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1894. After practicing medicine in North Carolina, she moved to Charleston and became the first Black female physician to practice in South Carolina. With several other African Americans, she contributed to the establishment of the Ca...

“B” is for Brown, James (1933-2006). Musician. Brown, likely South Carolina's most famous twentieth-century entertainer, was born near Barnwell. His career began in the 1950s in Augusta, Georgia, and grew into a music empire with a vast catalog of recordings, countless performances, and a global appeal that continued into the twenty-first century. While he was called the “Godfather of soul” his bo...

“B” is for Brown, Edgar Allan (1888-1975). Legislator. Brown was born in Aiken County. He represented Barnwell County in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1920-1926) and served as speaker (1925-1926).  In 1928 he was elected to the S. C. Senate where he remained until his retirement in 1972--serving as president pro tempore from 1942 to 1972. In September 1954 the South Carolina Democra...

“B” is for Broughton, Thomas (d. 1737). Legislator, lieutenant governor. By the mid- 1690s Broughton had settled in South Carolina, emigrating from the West Indies. He quickly became involved in the Indian trade. Broughton acquired at least four plantations, including Mulberry on the Cooper River, where he built a massive, Jacobean-style brick mansion. In 1696 he was elected to the Commons House o...

“P” is for Primus Plot (May-June 1720). The Primus Plot was South Carolina's first alleged slave conspiracy. Word of this conspiracy surfaced while the colony’s atmosphere was tense. There were rumors that Spain would invade South Carolina and, in the process, arm the colony enslaved persons against its White inhabitants. South Carolina’s enslaved Black majority had quickly grown to nearly twice t...

“P” is for Preston, William Campbell (1794-1860). U. S. Senator. Preston was an 1812 graduate of South Carolina College. After studying law in Virginia and at the University of Edinburgh, he practiced law in Virginia. In 1824 Preston moved to South Carolina and represented Richland District in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1828- 1833). In 1833 he was elected by the General Assembly...

“M” is for Myrtle Beach Pavilion. Until its closing in 2006 the Myrtle Beach Pavilion was located at 812 North Ocean Boulevard in the heart of Myrtle Beach. The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park’s eleven acres of roller coasters, thrill rides, go-cart tracks, water rides, attractions, arcades, shops, and games were a tradition for seaside visitors for generations. The original pavilion was a wo...

“M” is for Murrells Inlet (Georgetown County; 2020 population 9,740). Murrells Inlet is located twenty-two miles up the Waccamaw Neck from Georgetown. By the 1890s, people from inland South Carolina towns began to establish a summer colony along the inlet creekfront. Since inlet seafood could not be shipped out, then people would have to go there to get it; and throughout the twentieth century the...

“M” is for Murray, George Washington (1853-1926). Congressman. Murray was born an enslaved person near Rembert in Sumter District. He attended the University of South Carolina and taught school in Sumter County. During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, he acquired an influential role in Republican Party affairs. He came to be known as the “Republican Black Eagle” and served as a dele...

“B” is for Brooks, Preston Smith (1819-1857). Congressman. Born near the town of Edgefield, Brooks was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1852. In May 1856 an unusually harsh speech by U.S. Senator Charles Sumner assailed South Carolina's role in American history (especially during the Revolutionary War) and attacked by name Senator Andrew P. Butler (a distant cousin of Brooks). With...

“B” is for Brodie, Laura (1908-2004). Herpetologist. Brodie was born at Rockwood Farm five miles southeast of Leesville. At an early age she developed an interest in the living things around the farm. While Brodie was at Winthrop College, her biology professor noted her interest and called her to the attention of Howard K. Gloyd, a well-known herpetologist. He helped Brodie get a position at the U...

“B” is for Brookgreen Gardens. Brookgreen Gardens was created in 1931 by the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband, Archer M. Huntington. The sculpture garden is situated on thirty acres in the middle of 9,100 acres of the South Carolina lowcountry stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Waccamaw River. The site is best known for its beautiful display gardens and its unraveled American...

“B” is for Bristow, Gwen (1903-1980.) Novelist. Born in Marion, Bristow graduated from Judson College in Alabama. After studying journalism at Columbia University, she became a reporter for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. There she met and married Bruce Manning. Together they collaborated on the writing of four mystery novels. By the summer of 1934 they had moved to California where Bristow beg...

“B” is for Briggs v. Eliott (1954). Briggs v. Elliot was one of five cases, collectively entitled Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County Kansas, et al. , argued before the United States Supreme Court. The historic decision of Brown v. Board of Education rendered the doctrine of separate but equal public education unconstitutional and led to the movement to desegregate public...

“S” is for South Carolina Wildlife Federation. Founded in 1931 the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) was established by outdoor enthusiasts concerned with protecting and preserving the natural heritage of their state. In partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, the nonprofit organization strives to facilitate cooperative efforts of sportsmen and conservationists to advocate sound...

“S” is for South Carolina State University. The institution was founded in 1896 in Orangeburg as the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina. During its early years the college was devoted to training Back youngsters to be teachers, farmers, homemakers, and skilled artisans. The institution offered agricultural subjects as well as traditional academic cour...

“S” is for South Carolina State Ports Authority. The South Carolina State Ports Authority is a state owned enterprise established by the General Assembly in 1942 to create and operate seaports in Charleston, Georgetown, and Port Royal. Charleston is South Carolina's principal seaport, with six terminals. As of 2026 Charleston ranked eighth in the United States for the number of containers handled...

“S” is for South Carolina State Museum. South Carolina's multidisciplinary State Museum opened in 1988. The development of a museum was initiated in 1973 when the state legislature formed the South Carolina Museum Commission and charged it with “the creation and operation of a state museum reflecting the history, fine arts and natural history and the scientific and industrial resources of the stat...

“S” is for South Carolina Railroad. In the early nineteenth century, Charleston sought to bolster its economy by attempting to attract trade from the west. One portion of this effort was the South Carolina Railroad. Construction began in 1830 and was completed in 1833. The road stretched for 136 miles, from Charleston to Summerville, Branchville, Blackville, Aiken, and ending in Hamburg. At the ti...

“S” is for South Carolina Public Service Authority. The South Carolina Public Service Authority (better known as Santee Cooper) was established by the General Assembly in 1934 with the power to provide for navigation and flood control on the Santee, Congaree, and Cooper Rivers; to generate electricity; to reclaim swampland; and to reforest the state’s watersheds. The federal government approved th...

“S” is for South Carolina-North Carolina border. In 1735 the two colonies appointed a joint boundary commission that agreed the boundary should begin at a point thirty miles south of the Cape Fear River. Because of surveying errors, South Carolina's northern boundary was eleven miles south of where it should have been. To correct this mistake, the boundary was extended seventeen miles north of the...

“S” is for South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. The South Carolina National Heritage Corridor is a grassroots-led heritage tourism initiative that brings together communities throughout a fourteen county region from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Oconee County to the Atlantic Ocean along Charleston and Colleton Counties. In 1996 Congress designated it as a “national heritage area.” The Heritage...

“P” is for Preservation Society of Charleston. Founded in 1920, the Preservation Society of Charleston is the oldest community-based historic preservation organization in the United States. Originally called the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings, it was founded by Susan Pringle Frost and other individuals who were concerned about the future of the Joseph Manigault House. In 1931 the So...

“P” is for Presbyterian College. A liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Clinton, South Carolina, Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 by William Plumer Jacobs.  Originally known as Clinton College, the institution became the Presbyterian College of South Carolina in 1890. In 1923 the school gained full accreditation by the Southern Association of Co...

“P” is for Pratt, Nathaniel Alpheus (1834-1906). Chemist, engineer, inventor. A Georgia native, Pratt earned his M.D. from Savannah Medical College. During the Civil War he was named assistant chief of the Confederate States Nitre and Mining Bureau at Augusta, Georgia. Pratt moved to Charleston at the end of the war with plans to construct a chemical plant to manufacture fertilizers. He organized...