Midstate Counties

Learn about significant places in midstate South Carolina.

Learn about significant places in the following mid-state counties: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter. 

Lancaster County - Mt. Carmel Campground
Lancaster County - Mt. Carmel Campground

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Organized by former slaves and members of the Mt. Carmel AME Zion Church, this campground has always been an interdenominational gathering place that combines religious services with fellowship. An...
Orangeburg County - Claflin University
Orangeburg County - Claflin University

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Claflin College, founded in 1869 as Claflin University, is the oldest historically black college in S.C. and was established to "advance the cause of education, and maintain a first-class institution...
Orangeburg County - All Star Bowling Lanes
Orangeburg County - All Star Bowling Lanes

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ordered all public places and schools to desegregate and serve blacks and whites equally. For four years, from 1964 to 1968, Orangeburg's All Star Bowling Lanes refused to...
Lee County - Dennis High School
Lee County - Dennis High School

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Constructed in 1936, Dennis was the first high school for African Americans in Lee County, including Bishopville and nearby rural areas. In contrast with the much larger Bishopville High School, which...
Bamberg County - Voorhees College
Bamberg County - Voorhees College

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The present Voorhees College campus and buildings date from 1905 to the mid-1930s, and is itself a pioneer in higher education for African Americans in the area. Founder Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, a...
Kershaw County - Boylan-Haven Mather Academy
Kershaw County - Boylan-Haven Mather Academy

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Mather Academy was founded in 1887 by the New England Southern Conference of the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. Mather Academy educated black girls, and later boys, in grades...
Clarendon County - Summerton High School
Clarendon County - Summerton High School

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The building that housed Summerton High School from circa 1936 to the mid-1960s is located at 12 South Church Street in Summerton. In the middle of the twentieth century, the all-white high school was...
Sumter County - Goodwill Parochial School
Sumter County - Goodwill Parochial School

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The school building, built circa 1890, is significant as a scarce and relatively intact example of late nineteenth-century vernacular architecture associated with the African American community and...
Darlington County - Butler School
Darlington County - Butler School

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Butler School served Hartsville's black community for over sixty years. Many prominent African Americans graduated from Butler, including Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Cornell A. Wilson Jr.; Dr. Gerald A...