“S” is for Seneca

“S” is for Seneca (Oconee County; 2020 population 8,850). Founded in 1873, as Seneca City, the town’s name was taken from an earlier Indian village and the nearby Seneca River. It was the arrival of the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad (intersecting with the Blue Ridge Railroad) that was responsible for the town’s establishment. In 1874 Seneca was chartered by the General Assembly. And it was reincorporated in 1908. The town quickly became a commercial center, especially for marketing the area’s cotton crop. Although the town suffered three fires in its first forty years, Seneca recovered without any lasting effects. The economy was based on agriculture until cotton mills arrived at the turn of the twentieth century. From 1898 to 1939 Seneca was the site of the Seneca Institute, a well-known African American college.