South Carolina from A to Z

“S” is for State Farmers Market. The State Farmers Market is a three-site system of state-sponsored facilities operated by the South Carolina State Department of Agriculture. M

“S” is for State Fair. The South Carolina State Fair, formerly the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina was established in 1869.

“S” is for State, the. The State newspaper was born in 1891 of a bitter political struggle between South Carolina’s conservative political establishment and the agrarianism of Governor Benjamin “Pitchfork” Tillman.

“S” is for Stackhouse, Eunice Temple Ford (1885-1980). Educator, clubwoman.

“C” is for Cowpens, Battle of (January 17, 1781). The Battle of Cowpens was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

“C” is for Council of Safety. In June 1775, prompted by rumors of British sponsored slave and Indian attacks and news of the hostilities between British and patriot forces at Lexington and Concord, the Provincial Congress of South Carolina created a powerful thirteen-member committee to act as the supreme executive power in the province...

“C” is for Corrington, Julian Dana (1887-1979). Biologist, educator.

“C” is for Cornbread. Cornbread has been the most common daily bread in South Carolina since its founding.

“C” is for Corcoran, James Andrew (1820-1899) Theologian, educator, editor.

“D” is for Duke’s mayonnaise. Eugenia Duke mixed her first batch of mayonnaise in her Greenville home sometime in the early twentieth century.

“C” is for Clemson (Pickens County; 2020 population 17,780).

“C” is for Clark, Septima Poinsette (1898-1987). Educator, civil rights activist.

“C” is for Clarendon County (607 square miles; 2020 population 33,415).

“C” is for Claflin University. Responding to the urgent need to educate former enslaved persons, northern Methodists established Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1869.

“S” is for South Carolina Commission on Government Restructuring. In March 1991 Governor Carroll Campbell appointed the thirty-eight member Commission on Government Restructuring to devise a blueprint for enhancing the powers of the state’s weak chief executive.

“S” is for South Carolina Coastal Conservation League. Established in 1989, the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League has been a leading voice in the campaign to protect and preserve the coastal plain of the state.

“S” is for South Carolina Christian Action Council. The South Carolina Christian Action Council is a statewide ecumenical agency embracing many of the state's major Christian denominations.

“S” is for South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is an association organized mainly to promote and lobby the interests of business.

“P” is for Port Royal Experiment. The Port Royal Experiment, also called the Sea Island Experiment, was an early humanitarian effort to prepare the former enslaved persons of the South Carolina Sea Islands for inclusion as free citizens in American public life.

“B” is for Bull, William, II (1710-1791). Lieutenant governor.

“B” is for Bull, William (1683-1755). Planter, lieutenant governor.

“B” is for Bryan, Hugh (1699-1753). Planter, evangelist.

“B” is for Brown Fellowship Society. The Brown Fellowship Society was established in 1790 by free persons of color in Charleston.

“S “is for Spillane, Frank Morrison (1918-2006). Author.

“S” is for Spencer, James Alexander (1850-1911). Legislator, educator.

“S” is for Spence, Floyd Davidson (1928-2001). Legislator, congressman.

“B” is for Bull, Stephen (died 1800). Soldier, legislator.

“B” is for Brown, William Melvin, Jr. (1934-1994). Manufacturer.

“B” is for Brown, Thomas (1750-1825). Soldier. Brown was among the most notorious loyalist commanders in the South during the Revolutionary War.

“B” is for Brown, Thomas (1750-1825). Soldier. Brown was among the most notorious loyalist commanders in the South during the Revolutionary War.

“S” is for Spartanburg Pellagra Hospital. The pellagra hospital in Spartanburg was the nation's first facility dedicated to discovering the cause of that baffling and serious disorder.

“S” is for Spartanburg Methodist College. The college traces its origins to the Textile Industrial Institute (TII), founded in 1911 by David English Camak then pastor of Duncan Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South in the Spartan Mill Village.

“S” is for Spartanburg County (811 square miles; 2020 population 328,000).

“S” is for Spartanburg (Spartanburg County; 2020 population 38,732).

“C” is for Coram, Thomas (circa 1757-1811). Engraver, painter.

“C” is for Cooperationists. Cooperationists believed that slavery could ultimately be preserved only through disunion, but they differed with radical secessionists over the feasibility of South Carolina seceding alone.

“C” is for Cooper River. The Cooper River and its tributaries drain much of the central portion of the lowcountry.

“C” is for Cooper, Thomas (1759-1839). Educator, scientist.

“C” is for Cooper, Robert Archer (1874-1953). Governor.

“P” is for Purvis, Melvin Horace, Jr. (1902-1960). Federal agent. Born in Timmonsville, Purvis gained national fame during the 1930s as the nation’s “ace G-man.”

“P” is for Purrysburg (Jasper County). The town of Purrysburg, located on the Savannah River in present day Jasper County, was named after its founder, Jean-Pierre Purry.

“P” is for Punches. Punches have been prominent at South Carolina social gatherings for centuries.

“S” is for Spanish moss. Spanish moss is gray tree-borne epiphyte native to the coastal plain of the southeastern United States.

“S“ is for Spanish. On a monument at the tip of Parris Island, a tile plaque proclaims, “Aqui estuvo España” (“Here was Spain”). The plaque refers to the colony of Santa Elena, located at this site (1566 to 1587).

“P” is for PTL Club. Based first in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then Fort Mill, South Carolina, the PTL Club (launched in 1974) was one of the most successful ventures in televangelism for much of the 1970s and 1980s.

“P” is for Provincials. When warfare broke out between the colonies and Great Britain in 1775, in addition to British soldiers and German mercenaries, British officials organized loyal Americans into conventional fighting units commonly referred to as provincials.

“P” is for Promised Land (Greenwood and Abbeville counties; 2020 population 555).

“C” is for Cooper, Anthony Ashley (1621-1683). Lord proprietor.

“C” is for Cooke, William Wilson (1871-1949). Architect.

“P” is for Progressive Democratic Party. Aware that many White Democrats in South Carolina opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's reelection to a fourth term, African American activists sought to demonstrate their loyalty to the National Party by mobilizing Black support for the president. By May 1944, that effort had morphed into the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).