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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.

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The Columbia Skyline As Seen From Gervais Street Bridge | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Columbia Skyline As Seen From Gervais Street Bridge | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

The Columbia skyline as seen from across the Gervais Street Bridge in 1952. (Compare with The Congaree River Bridge, 1910) Courtesy of Mary Taylor.

View Of The Congaree River And Columbia Canal | History Of SC Slide Collection

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View Of The Congaree River And Columbia Canal | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

This view of the Congaree River and the Columbia Canal was drawn by the artist A. Grivevald in 1859. Courtesy of the Columbia Museum of Art.

Main Street At Night, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street At Night, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

Main Street, Columbia, as it appeared at night with its electric street lights in 1910. Courtesy of the Howard G. Woody Postcard Collection.

Main Street, 1906 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street, 1906 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

This Columbia view of Main Street, looking south, in 1906. Originally named "Richardson Street," the name was changed to Main Street in 1892, since the street had become the city's main central hub of...

View Of Columbia From Across The Congaree River | History Of SC Slide Collection

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View Of Columbia From Across The Congaree River | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

This view of Columbia from across the Congaree River appeared in the New York "Illustrated News" on January 5, 1861. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

Map Of Taylor's Farm | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Map Of Taylor's Farm | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Map of Taylor's Farm, or the original survey plat of Columbia. Before the Revolution, the newly established settlements in the Upcountry of South Carolina did not have much voice in the government of...

Row Of Mill Houses In Clinton, 1908 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Row Of Mill Houses In Clinton, 1908 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Lewis Hine photographed this row of mill houses in Clinton in 1908, but the town is better known as the home of Presbyterian College, founded by the Reverend William Plumer Jacobs, a Presbyterian...

Main Street In Chester County, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Main Street In Chester County, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Chester, seat of Chester County, is one of three South Carolina towns named by settlers after their Pennsylvania homes when they migrated here in 1755 (the other two are York and Lancaster). The...

Row Of Stores On The East Side Of Second Street In Cheraw | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Row Of Stores On The East Side Of Second Street In Cheraw | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

This row of four stores on the east side of Second Street in Cheraw is having a sidewalk sale, around 1908. Rocking chairs, bicycles, baby buggies, and rolls of wire are displayed on wooden platforms...

Market Street In Cheraw, Around 1900 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Market Street In Cheraw, Around 1900 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

Market Street, Cheraw, looking west, around 1900. The white columned building at the right is the Lyceum, a library and meeting place for the Cheraw Lyceum Society, built in 1820. Courtesy of the...

The Town Hall In Cheraw | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Town Hall In Cheraw | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

The Town Hall in Cheraw, built in 1858 and photographed here in 1890, is still used as a meeting place for the Masons (who helped pay for it) and for city offices. County seat of Chesterfield County...

Aerial View Of Charleston, 1940 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Aerial View Of Charleston, 1940 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 12

Aerial view of the City of Charleston around 1940. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

Hurricane Damage To Charleston Ferry Wharf, 1911 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Hurricane Damage To Charleston Ferry Wharf, 1911 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 11

The fall months are traditionally the season of heavy storms along the Carolina Coast. This photograph shows the damage to the Charleston Ferry wharf after a hurricane in 1911. Courtesy of the South...

Riverland Terrace Development Brochure, 1925 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Riverland Terrace Development Brochure, 1925 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 10

St. Andrew's Parish on James Island was one of the early suburban development sites for an expanding 20th century Charleston. The new Ashley River Bridge, completed in 1926, led investors to lay out...

King Street Postcard, 1916 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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King Street Postcard, 1916 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 9

King Street, looking south in this 1916 postcard view, proudly displays electric street lights. Courtesy of the Howard G. Woody Postcard Collection.

The Custom House Of Charleston | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Custom House Of Charleston | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 8

The Custom House of Charleston, viewed from the harbor in 1899. Begun in 1850 with Federal funds, intended as the crowning glory of Charleston's antebellum civic architecture, the classical revival...

King Street In Charleston, 1925 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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King Street In Charleston, 1925 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 7

King Street in Charleston, looking north around 1925. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

The Promenade On The East Battery, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Promenade On The East Battery, 1910 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

The promenade on the East Battery, Charleston, in 1910. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

The Ruins Of The Circular Congregational Church, 1865 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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The Ruins Of The Circular Congregational Church, 1865 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

The ruins of the Circular Congregational Church, photographed in 1865, show the devastation that fire and war brought on the city of Charleston. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Birds-Eye View Of Charleston, 1853 | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Birds-Eye View Of Charleston, 1853 | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

This birds-eye view of Charleston, drawn and engraved in 1853, was widely reproduced in "Harper's Illustrated Weekly" for the next decade; it became the visual image most outsiders had of what the...

Long Billed Curlews By James Audubon | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Long Billed Curlews By James Audubon | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

The artist James Audubon (see John James Audubon) first came to Charleston in late October of 1831, and was so welcomed by its citizens, particularly the Reverend John Bachman (see John Bachman) that...

An Exact Prospect Of Charles Town... | History Of SC Slide Collection

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An Exact Prospect Of Charles Town... | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

"An Exact Prospect of Charles Town, the Metropolis of the Province of South Carolina," was engraved for the London Magazine in 1762, based on a painting of the bustling colonial commercial city in...

Old Market And Court House, 1836 Engraving | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Old Market And Court House, 1836 Engraving | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

This small engraving showing a faded sketch of the "Old Market and Court House, 1836" was probably copied from an earlier sketch of Camden as it appeared around 1820. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana...

Plat Map Of Camden | History Of SC Slide Collection

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Plat Map Of Camden | History Of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

The town of Camden was one of the first official settlements to be laid out in the interior of South Carolina in the 1730s. Settlers flooded into the backcountry during the quarter century of peace...

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