Edgefield County, South Carolina

Edgefield County
County
Edgefield County Courthouse
Seal
Nickname:  Home of Ten Governors
Motto:  "It Feels Different Here Because It Is Different Here"
Location within the U.S. state of South Carolina
South Carolina's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°47′N81°58′W / 33.78°N 81.97°W / 33.78; -81.97
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Founded	1785
Named for	County's location at the Edge of the State [1]
Seat	Edgefield
Largest community	Edgefield
Area
• Total	507.00 sq mi (1,313.1 km2)
• Land	500.71 sq mi (1,296.8 km2)
• Water	6.29 sq mi (16.3 km2)  1.24%
Population  (2020)
• Total	25,657
• Estimate  (2023)	27,607
• Density	51.24/sq mi (19.78/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	edgefieldcounty.sc.gov

Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. ^[2] Its county seat and largest community is Edgefield. ^[3] The county was established on March 12, 1785. ^[4]

The Savannah River makes up part of the western border of Edgefield County; across the river lies the city of Augusta, Georgia. Edgefield is part of the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

See also: Edgefield, South Carolina § History

The origin of the name Edgefield is unclear; the South Carolina State Library's information on the county's history suggests that the name "is usually described as 'fanciful.'" ^[5] There is a village named Edgefield in Norfolk, England.

Edgefield District was created in 1785, and it is bordered on the west by the Savannah River. ^{[5] [6] [7]} It was formed from the southern section of the former Ninety-Six District when it was divided into smaller districts or counties by an act of the state legislature. ^{[5] [6] [7]} Parts of the district were later used in the formation of other neighboring counties, specifically: ^[5]

• Aiken in 1871
• Saluda in 1895
• Greenwood in 1897
• McCormick in 1916

In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton classified white society as comprising the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite planters. ^[8] A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was never very distinct. Stephanie McCurry argues that yeomen were clearly distinguished from poor whites by their ownership of land (real property). Edgefield's yeomen farmers were "self-working farmers," distinct from the elite because they worked their land themselves alongside any slaves they owned. By owning large numbers of slaves, planters took on a managerial function and did not work in the fields. ^[9]

During Reconstruction, Edgefield County had a slight black majority. It became a center of political tensions following the postwar amendments that gave freedmen civil rights under the US constitution. Whites conducted an insurgency to maintain white supremacy, particularly through paramilitary groups known as the Red Shirts. They used violence and intimidation during election seasons from 1872 on to disrupt and suppress black Republican voting.

In May 1876, six black suspects were lynched by a white mob for the alleged murders of a white couple. In the Hamburg Massacre of July 8, 1876, several black militia were killed by whites, part of a large group of more than 100 armed men who attended a court hearing of a complaint of whites against the militia. Some of the white men came from Augusta. ^[10] Due to fraud, more Democratic votes were recorded in Edgefield County than there were total residents; similar fraud occurred elsewhere, as did suppression of black voting. Eventually the election was decided in Hampton's favor, and the Democrats also took control of the state legislature. As a result of a national compromise, Federal troops were withdrawn in 1877 from South Carolina and other southern states, ending Reconstruction.

The long decline in population from 1910 to 1980 reflects the decline in agriculture, mechanization reducing labor needs, and the effect of many African Americans leaving for Northern and Midwestern cities in the Great Migration out of the rural South.

Geography

Interactive map of Edgefield County

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 507.00 square miles (1,313.1 km²), of which 500.71 square miles (1,296.8 km²) is land and 6.29 square miles (16.3 km²) (1.24%) is water. ^[11]

National protected area

• Sumter National Forest (part)

State and local protected area

• Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area (part) ^[12]

Major water bodies

• Savannah River
• Steven Creek

Adjacent counties

• Saluda County – northeast
• Aiken County – east
• Richmond County, Georgia – southwest
• Columbia County, Georgia – southwest
• McCormick County – west
• Greenwood County – northwest

Major highways

• US 25
• 
  US 25 Truck
• US 378
• SC 19
• 
  SC 19 Conn.
• SC 23
• 
  SC 23 Truck
• SC 121
• SC 191
• SC 230
• SC 430
• 
  SC 430 Conn.

Major infrastructure

• Edgefield County Airport

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	13,289		—
1800	18,130		36.4%
1810	23,160		27.7%
1820	25,119		8.5%
1830	30,509		21.5%
1840	32,852		7.7%
1850	39,262		19.5%
1860	39,887		1.6%
1870	42,486		6.5%
1880	45,844		7.9%
1890	49,259		7.4%
1900	25,478		−48.3%
1910	28,281		11.0%
1920	23,928		−15.4%
1930	19,326		−19.2%
1940	17,894		−7.4%
1950	16,591		−7.3%
1960	15,735		−5.2%
1970	15,692		−0.3%
1980	17,528		11.7%
1990	18,375		4.8%
2000	24,595		33.9%
2010	26,985		9.7%
2020	25,657		−4.9%
2023 (est.)	27,607	[2]	7.6%
U.S. Decennial Census [13] 1790–1960 [14] 1900–1990 [15] 1990–2000 [16] 2010 [17] 2020 [2]

2020 census

Edgefield County racial composition ^[18]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	104,890	58.03%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	48,301	32.35%
Native American	2,312	0.26%
Asian	5,467	0.46%
Pacific Islander	400	0.02%
Other/Mixed	6,500	3.52%
Hispanic or Latino	15,182	5.34%

As of the 2020 census, there were 25,657 people, 9,176 households, and 6,471 families residing in the county.

2010 census

At the 2010 census, there were 55,285 people, 21,348 households, and 16,706 families living in the county. ^{[19] [17]} The population density was 53.9 inhabitants per square mile (20.8/km²). There were 10,559 housing units at an average density of 21.1 per square mile (8.1/km²). ^[20] The racial makeup of the county was 58.6% white, 37.2% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 2.2% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race) made up 5.2% of the population. ^[19] In terms of ancestry, 15.8% were American, 9.0% were English, 6.7% were Irish, and 5.1% were German. ^[21]

Of the 9,348 households, 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.3% were non-families, and 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age was 40.3 years. ^[19]

The median income for a household in the county was $42,834 and the median income for a family was $57,114. Males had a median income of $41,759 versus $29,660 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,901. About 17.8% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over. ^[22]

2000 census

At the 2000 census, ^[23] there were 24,595 people, 8,270 households, and 6,210 families living in the county. The population density was 49 inhabitants per square mile (19/km²). There were 9,223 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (6.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 56.77% White, 41.51% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 2.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,270 households, out of which 34.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were married couples living together, 15.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.90% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 32.10% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,146, and the median income for a family was $41,810. Males had a median income of $32,748 versus $23,331 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,415. About 13.00% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.60% of those under age 18 and 18.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

The Federal Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Institution, Edgefield is in the county; it is partially within the city limits of Edgefield, and partially in an unincorporated area. ^{[24] [25]}

United States presidential election results for Edgefield County, South Carolina ^[26]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	8,184	61.52%	4,953	37.23%	167	1.26%
2016	6,842	58.76%	4,491	38.57%	311	2.67%
2012	6,512	56.21%	4,967	42.87%	107	0.92%
2008	6,334	54.98%	5,075	44.05%	111	0.96%
2004	5,611	57.57%	4,051	41.57%	84	0.86%
2000	4,760	53.88%	3,950	44.71%	124	1.40%
1996	3,640	48.62%	3,576	47.77%	270	3.61%
1992	3,339	45.15%	3,433	46.42%	624	8.44%
1988	3,814	55.57%	3,020	44.00%	29	0.42%
1984	3,224	49.77%	3,227	49.81%	27	0.42%
1980	2,415	40.68%	3,465	58.36%	57	0.96%
1976	1,879	36.58%	3,216	62.60%	42	0.82%
1972	2,812	66.67%	1,326	31.44%	80	1.90%
1968	1,688	43.07%	1,225	31.26%	1,006	25.67%
1964	2,489	75.13%	824	24.87%	0	0.00%
1960	1,448	63.12%	846	36.88%	0	0.00%
1956	516	25.27%	525	25.71%	1,001	49.02%
1952	1,665	68.86%	753	31.14%	0	0.00%
1948	6	0.33%	27	1.48%	1,797	98.20%
1944	3	0.42%	654	92.24%	52	7.33%
1940	9	0.84%	1,065	99.16%	0	0.00%
1936	1	0.08%	1,304	99.92%	0	0.00%
1932	10	0.75%	1,316	99.25%	0	0.00%
1928	4	0.33%	1,201	99.67%	0	0.00%
1924	0	0.00%	915	100.00%	0	0.00%
1920	0	0.00%	976	100.00%	0	0.00%
1916	5	0.52%	959	99.48%	0	0.00%
1912	3	0.38%	779	97.38%	18	2.25%
1904	5	0.51%	967	99.49%	0	0.00%
1900	17	1.82%	919	98.18%	0	0.00%

Media

Edgefield has one newspaper, published in the town of the same name:

• Edgefield Advertiser, the oldest newspaper in S.C.

The local radio station is located in the town of Johnston:

• WLFW

Edgefield is also served by the following television stations:

• WRDW-TV News 12, Augusta, Georgia
• WJBF NewsChannel 6, Augusta, Georgia
• WAGT NBC Augusta 26, Augusta, Georgia
• WFXG FOX-54, Augusta, Georgia

Communities

City

• North Augusta (mostly in Aiken County)

Towns

• Edgefield (county seat and largest community)
• Johnston
• Trenton

Census-designated place

• Murphys Estates

Notable people

Governors

• Andrew Pickens, II 1816–1818
• George McDuffie 1834–1836
• Pierce Mason Butler 1836–1838
• James H. Hammond 1842–1844
• Francis W. Pickens 1860–1862
• Milledge L. Bonham 1862–1864
• John C. Sheppard 1886
• Benjamin R. Tillman 1890–1894
• John Gary Evans 1894–1897
• Strom Thurmond 1947–1951

Other notable people

In addition to its ten governors of South Carolina listed below, Edgefield County was the home of numerous local notables: George Galphin (1709–1780);Samuel Hammond (1757–1842); Parson Mason Locke Weems (1759–1825); Rebecca "Becky" Cotton (1765–1807); Billy Porter (aka “Billy the Fiddler”), a slave (1771–1821); Rev. William Bullein Johnson (1782–1862); Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790–1870), a famous author; Andrew Pickens Butler (1796–1857); Dave Drake (1800–1879?), a slave; Francis Hugh Wardlaw (1800–1861); Louis T. Wigfall (1816–1874); Preston S. Brooks (1819–1857); General James A. Longstreet (1821–1904), a leading Confederate general; Prince Rivers (1823–1887), a black leader; George D. Tillman (1826–1901); Martin Witherspoon Gary (1831–1881); Lucy Holcombe Pickens (1832–1899); Matthew Calbraith Butler (1836–1909); Alexander Bettis (1836–1895), a black leader; Lawrence Cain (1845–1884), a black leader; Paris Simkins (1849–1930), a black leader; Daniel Augustus Tompkins (1851–1914); Alfred W. Nicholson (1861–1945), a black leader; John William Thurmond (1862–1934); Emma Anderson Dunovant (1866–1956); Florence Adams Mims (1873–1951); Benjamin Mays (1894–1984), a black leader; Francis Butler Simkins (1897–1966), a historian; and Davis Timmerman, a murder victim whose case resulted in the first execution of a woman in South Carolina's electric chair. ^{[27] [28] [29]}

See also

• List of counties in South Carolina
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Edgefield County, South Carolina

References

1. "A Thematic Overview Of Edegfield, SC". www.historicedgefield.com. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
2. "QuickFacts: Edgefield County, South Carolina". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
4. "South Carolina - Legislative Acts Creating Counties / Districts". South Carolina General Assembly. 1785. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
5. Morgan, Mary (March 22, 2007). "Edgefield County". South Carolina State Library. Archived from the original on September 19, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
6. "The Edgefield County Court House: A Brief History, 1785-1997". County of Edgefield. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
7. "Edgefield County Chamber of Commerce Home Page". Edgefield County Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
8. Orville Vernon Burton, In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina (U. of North Carolina Press, 1985)
9. Stephanie McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low Country (1995)
10. Melinda Meeks Hennessy, “Racial Violence During Reconstruction: The 1876 Riots in Charleston and Cainhoy”, South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 86, No. 2, (April 1985), 104–106 (subscription required)
11. "2020 County Gazetteer Files – South Carolina". United States Census Bureau. August 23, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
12. "SCDNR Public Lands". www2.dnr.sc.gov. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
13. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
14. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
15. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
16. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
17. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
18. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
19. "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
20. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 – County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
21. "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
22. "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
23. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 14, 2011.
24. "FCI Edgefield Contact Information." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
25. "Edgefield town, South Carolina Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine ." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
26. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
27. See "LEARN ABOUT FAMOUS EDGEFIELDIANS" (Edgefield County Historical Society)
28. Walter Edgar, ed. The South Carolina Encyclopedia, (University of South Carolina Press, 2006), passim.
29. O'Neil, Duay (October 10, 2014). "From a dead calf to the South Carolina electric chair". Newport Plain Talk. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.

Further reading

• Burton, Vernon. "Race and Reconstruction: Edgefield County, South Carolina." Journal of Social History (1978) 12#1: 31–56 online.
• Burton, Orville Vernon. In my Father's house are many mansions: Family and community in Edgefield, South Carolina (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2000) excerpt.
• Chapman, John A. History of Edgefield County: From the Earliest Settlements to 1897 (Newberry, South Carolina: Elbert H. Aull, Publisher and Printer, 1897). online
• Ford, Lacy K. "Origins of the Edgefield Tradition: The Late Antebellum Experience and the Roots of Political Insurgency." South Carolina Historical Magazine 98.4 (1997): 328–348.
• Russell, Thomas D. "The Antebellum Courthouse as Creditors' Domain: Trial-Court Activity in South Carolina and the Concomitance of Lending and Litigation." American Journal of Legal History 40 (1996): 331+.
• Steen, Carl, and Corbett E. Toussaint. "Who Were the Potters in the Old Edgefield District?." Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage 6.2 (2017): 78–109.

External links

• Geographic data related to Edgefield County, South Carolina at OpenStreetMap
• Official website
• Edgefield County Chamber of Commerce
• Edgefield County history and images