Marlboro County was founded in 1785 within Cheraws District and named after John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough. Initially, the county name’s spelling reflected Marlborough’s, but the county eventually shortened it.
Welsh Baptists from Delaware were the first group to settle in Marlboro County, and English and Scotch-Irish settlers soon followed. The area became affluent in the antebellum area as a result of the large amounts of cotton grown by the county. During the Civil War, Union soldiers took over Bennettsville. Shortly after the Civil War ended, the county’s first railroad was constructed. This railroad amplified the money Marlboro could make from its cotton.
During World War II, many pilots came to Marlboro County to acquire their flight training at Palmer Field. In the mid-20th century, Lake Paul A. Wallace was created from Crooked Creek and is considered the largest man-made controlled fishing lake. Notable locals include United States Congressmen John McQueen and Robert Blair Campbell. Bennettsville serves as the county seat.
History. Accessed June 10, 2016. http://www.marlborocounty.sc.gov/History/Pages/index.aspx
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Bill Kinney was born and raised in Bennettsville, South Carolina, where his parents were publishers of the local newspaper. Today, Kinney follows in the footsteps of his parents, serving as the editor...
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The document includes transcripts for Leslie and Gilbert Stuart McDonald 's audio.
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Three generations of African-American men pose in front of their cabin in the Welsh Neck area in 1904. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.
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Teenagers dance to juke box music outdoors on a poured concrete floor at Campbell's Pond, the "Negro Area" of Cheraw State Park, on August 2, 1951. Courtesy of the South Carolina Department of Parks...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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The county courthouse and Confederate monument in Bennettsville, county seat of Marlboro County, in a 1915 postcard view. Marlboro County has been an important agricultural center (first for the...
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Sandlapper Magazine called Cheraw an “ideal, idyllic, picket-fence place.” Several notable homes in Cheraw include the Lafayette home, and the Teacherage, the oldest dwelling in Cheraw, dating back...
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Born in 1917, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was a famous jazz and “be-bop” musician from Cheraw County, South Carolina. Mr. Norman Poe, a life-long friend to Dizzy Gillespie, reminisces.
