Explore South Carolina

Learn about South Carolina. You may be surprised at what you'll find!

In addition to the topics below, you can also delve into South Carolina's history by visiting the Social Studies section.

Public schools observe John C. Calhoun's birthday, March 18, as South Carolina Day.

Within this Collection

African American Quilting Traditions | History Of SC Slide Collection

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African American Quilting Traditions | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

Quilts made in the African-American tradition are more free in form and in the combinations of colors than the carefully laid out regular patterns of quilts made by women working in European American...

Mrs. T.C. Shores Shows Off Her Crazy "Quilt Creations" | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Mrs. T.C. Shores Shows Off Her Crazy "Quilt Creations" | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

Mrs. T.C. Shores shows her crazy quilt "Creations" to an admiring visitor in 1973. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.

A Typical "Dug Well" | History Of SC Slide Collection

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A Typical "Dug Well" | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

A typical "dug well" with a bucket and wooden base was a common sight in the yards of most mill village or farm families. This photograph was taken as part of the report of the U.S. Medical Corps on...

A Jasper County Woman's New Storage Shelves | History Of SC Slide Collection

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A Jasper County Woman's New Storage Shelves | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

This Jasper County woman proudly displays the new shelves she has built in her home to store her home canning, early 1950s. Courtesy of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce.

A Fishing Boat Cook Peeling Potatoes | History Of SC Slide Collection

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A Fishing Boat Cook Peeling Potatoes | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

Women are not the only ones who cook in South Carolina! This cook on a fishing boat in Charleston is peeling potatoes for Christmas dinner in December 1938. Photograph for the Farm Security...

The Wicklow Hall Plantation Kitchen Building | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Wicklow Hall Plantation Kitchen Building | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

The Wicklow Hall Plantation kitchen building, photographed in the 1930s. Kitchen buildings were not part of the main house on a plantation, but were built at a small distance, both to reduce the risk...

Movie Theaters | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Movie Theaters | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

Movie-going was an important source of entertainment during the 1920s and 1930s, and every town of any size in South Carolina had a movie theater in the downtown shopping district. The Rex Theater in...

Classical Or Serious Music In South Carolina | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Classical Or Serious Music In South Carolina | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Classical or serious music has a long history in South Carolina. The St. Cecilia Society (still in existence today) was founded in Charleston in 1762 to bring the best concert music available to that...

Barbecuing | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Barbecuing | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 7

Barbecue in its many forms is a tradition so important in South Carolina cuisine that regional variations in barbecue sauce were included in a recent geography of the state! Here, a St. Helena's...

Aerial View Of Winnsboro, 1950 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Aerial View Of Winnsboro, 1950 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

An aerial view of Winnsboro around 1950, before the Confederate monument in front of the clock tower was moved because it caused traffic accidents. The clock, assembled in 1833, is thought to be the...

Fairfield County Courthouse | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Fairfield County Courthouse | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

The Fairfield County Courthouse, built in 1823 from a design by Robert Mills, still stands, and was recently restored. Fairfield became a county in 1785. Courtesy of the Fairfield County Museum.

Walterboro Courthouse, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Walterboro Courthouse, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Walterboro Courthouse, designed by Robert Mills, was built of materials originally used in the Provisional Capital of South Carolina at Jacksonboro. Photographed here in 1910, a militia unit on...

The Second County Courthouse For Union County | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Second County Courthouse For Union County | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

The second county courthouse for Union County, built in 1827, was photographed in 1904 shortly before it was torn down in 1908 to make way for a new courthouse. Formed from the old Ninety Six District...

Salt Fires Science Experiment | Carolina Classrooms USC Sumter Science Camp | Carolina Classrooms

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USC Sumter Science Camp | Carolina Classrooms

USC Sumter’s Mad About Science Camp took place June 26-30. Kids had the opportunity to conduct science experiments, build rockets and learn about technologies such as gel electrophoresis. The...

Dismantling the Dixie Life Building By Mildred White | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Dismantling the Dixie Life Building By Mildred White | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

This 1973 painting by Mildred White is titled "Dismantling the Dixie Life Building." Courtesy of the Sumter County Museum Archives.

Downtown Sumter, 1930 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Downtown Sumter, 1930 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

This aerial view of downtown Sumter, taken around 1930, shows clearly the City Hall and the skyscraper Dixie Life building, built in 1911. Courtesy of the Sumter County Museum Archives.

Main Street Of Sumter, Around 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street Of Sumter, Around 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Main Street of Sumter, around 1910. The straggling village, first called Sumterville after the Revolutionary War General Thomas Sumter (see Thomas Sumter), was selected in 1798 to be the courthouse...

Main Street Of Summerville, 1906 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street Of Summerville, 1906 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Main Street of Summerville, July 1906. Created by early planters as a refuge from the heat and disease of coastal plantations, Summerville was one of a number of early resorts built in the belt of...

The Town Of St. Matthews | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Town Of St. Matthews | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

The town of St. Matthews predates by more than a century and a half the 1908 formation of Calhoun County, of which it is now the county seat. Originally a trading post on the Cherokee Path, the town...

Morgan Square, In Spartanburg, 1939 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Morgan Square, In Spartanburg, 1939 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

Morgan Square, Spartanburg, as it appeared in 1939. Alfred T. Willis, photographer. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

Morgan Square, In Spartanburg, 1907 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Morgan Square, In Spartanburg, 1907 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

Morgan Square, Spartanburg, showing the Confederate monument and City Hall around 1907. First known as "Public Square," it was created in 1787 as a public pasture, and renamed after a statue of...

Spartanburg County Courthouse | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Spartanburg County Courthouse | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Spartanburg County was created out of the old Ninety Six District in 1785, but there were settlements in the area as early as 1761, primarily of Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Known only...

Main Street In Society Hill, Around 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street In Society Hill, Around 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Main Street, Society Hill, before paving, around 1910. Society Hill was the core of the Welsh Neck settlement along the Great Pee Dee River granted to Welsh Baptists from Delaware in 1736. The name...