Saluda County was founded in 1895 from lands previously belonging to Edgefield County. The county and its seat are both named after the Saluda River, which comprises one of the county’s borders. Notable Saluda County locals include William Barret Travis and James Butler Bonham, both whom played key roles in the Alamo.
Cherokee Indians inhabited Saluda County first. However, they eventually ceded their control of the land to the British via treaty in 1755. Soon after the signing of this treaty, the Cherokee Indians moved north, while Scotch-Irish and English settlers began to come to the area.
Historically, Saluda County served as a mountain resort town for “Summer People”: South Carolinians and Georgians from the Midlands and Lowlands looking to escape the heat. Today, the economy relies more heavily on the advanced manufacturing, research, and chemical industries.
SOURCES: Key Industries. Accessed June 10, 2016. | Saluda History. Accessed June 10, 2016.
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Edgefield County English teacher Lynn Booraem takes us on a tour through The Ridge’s roadside stands. The main produce sold at these stands are peaches, watermelons, cantaloupes, and tomatoes. “The...
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The small town of Ward, which was once a bustling railroad town, sits at The Ridge’s high point: 695 feet above sea level. The town is on part of a plantation which belonged to the town’s founder...
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It was once said that men who grew up in “The Ridge,” an area 150 miles from South Carolina’s coast, are of heartier stock, compared to their lowcountry counterparts. Today, descendants of those...
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Shealy's Barbecue in Leesville. Mrs. Sara Shealy stirs the green beans at lunch time. April 21, 1983, photo by Perry Baker. Courtesy of "The State" newspaper.
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"A" is for Asparagus. Asparagus was an important cash crop in South Carolina from the 1910s until the mid-1930s. With cotton prices low and the boll weevil creeping closer, farmers in the "Ridge"...
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Hookworm was a serious medical problem for the rural poor in South Carolina. The parasite infected individuals who picked it up through barefoot contact in infested soil; open-backed privies helped...
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Born in 1813 at Red Bank (now Saluda) in the Edgefield District, Governor Milledge L. Bonham (1813-1910) attended private schools in Edgefield and Abbeville (South Carolina), and the South Carolina...
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Born in Ridge Spring and living most of her life in the Aiken area, Idella Bodie, who holds a degree in English from Columbia College, has been writing for young readers for more than thirty years...
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Mrs. Gail Rikard Cockrell is a crochet artist from Saluda County. She learned how to crochet when she about sixteen years old from watching her mother and grandmother as well as learning on her own...
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Ms. Maria Rosa-Garcia is a traditional folk dancer from Mexico. She learned the art as a child from her family and currently teaches young children how to dance at a church in Saluda County, South...
