“B” is for Bishopville

“B” is for Bishopville (Lee County; 2020 population 2,994). In 1790 Bishopville, Lee County’s seat, began as a small settlement, Singleton’s Crossroads. In the early nineteenth century the village was renamed Bishopville. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad extended its main line from McBee to Bishopville in 1887, and the town was incorporated the following year. Aside from its role as the seat of Lee County government, the town has also served as a business and cultural center throughout its existence. Two blocks of Main Street are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Opera House (ca. 1900), which originally served as the county courthouse, was later restored as a community cultural center. In 1994 Bishopville opened the South Carolina Cotton Museum, a center to preserve and present the cotton heritage of the town and Lee County.