Aiken County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 168,808. Its county seat and largest city is Aiken. Aiken County is a part of the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is mostly in the Sandhills region, with the northern parts reaching in the Piedmont and southern parts reaching into the Coastal Plain.
Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the South Carolina Railroad. It became part of Aiken County when the county was formed in 1871 from parts of Orangeburg, Lexington, Edgefield, and Barnwell counties.
Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,102 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area, an (MSA) that includes all of Oconee County, and that is included within the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area. Seneca was named for the nearby Cherokee town of Isunigu, which English colonists knew as "Seneca Town".
Graniteville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,614 at the 2010 census. It lies along U.S. Route 1, five miles (8.0 km) west of Aiken in Horse Creek Valley, which originates in the nearby town of Vaucluse.
Vaucluse is an unincorporated community in Aiken County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Vaucluse is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.
The William Aiken House and Associated Railroad Structures make up a National Historic Landmark District in Charleston, South Carolina, that contains structures of South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company and the home of the company's founder, William Aiken. These structures make up one of the largest collection of surviving pre-Civil War railroad depot facilities in the United States. The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1963.
The Graniteville Historic District encompasses one of the first textile company towns to be established in the Southern United States. Built in the late 1840s by William Gregg near Aiken, South Carolina, and now known as Graniteville, it was modeled after New England mill towns. Gregg used the success of this enterprise to advocate for the industrialization of the South, laying the groundwork for its eventual domination of the American textile industry. The district, which includes the original canal, mill building, mill worker housing, and a period church, was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1978.
Piedmont Number One is a former textile plant and former National Historic Landmark in Piedmont, Greenville County, South Carolina. It burned in 1983.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Aiken County, South Carolina.
West Point Rice Mill is a former rice mill building in Charleston, South Carolina. It is at the City Marina at 17 Lockwood Drive. West Point Mill was one of three large rice mills in Charleston in the 19th century. This building was constructed in 1861 to replace a rice mill that had burned the previous year. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1995.
Horse Creek Valley is a geographic area along Horse Creek, a tributary of the Savannah River. It lies within present-day Aiken County, South Carolina. The area is alternately referred to as "Midland Valley". Rising near Vaucluse, South Carolina, Horse Creek enters the Savannah two miles downstream of downtown Augusta, Georgia. Other communities along Horse Creek include Graniteville, Warrenville, Gloverville, Langley, Burnettown, Bath, and Clearwater. While Horse Creek itself is rather insignificant, its potential for water power led to early examples of Southern industrialization, including a textile mill at Vaucluse (1830) and William Gregg's Graniteville Mill (1845). The textile industry continued to play a primary role until the Graniteville Train Derailment and final closure of the Graniteville Mill in 2006.
Lockwood, Greene & Company was an American engineering firm. It was active under various names from 1871 to 2017.
The Aiken Training Track, with its banked turns and soft straightaways, was considered one of the best tracks in the country upon its completion in 1941. Notable surrounding buildings include a stable, shed and grandstand. The track and supporting structures, as well as other structures may be enjoyed and viewed from the quiet roads that border the large district. The Aiken County Training Track, located in Aiken, South Carolina, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1985.
The Georgia Avenue-Butler Avenue Historic District is located in North Augusta, South Carolina. The district overlooks the city of Augusta, Georgia. The district was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Warrenville Elementary School, originally known as Warrenville Graded School, was constructed in 1925 and used to educate mill village children located in and around the Warrenville, South Carolina area. In 1954, two wings were added to the building. This Aiken County, South Carolina school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 2002.
The Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Court House is located in Aiken, South Carolina. It is significant for its association with the many federal construction programs of the Great Depression era. The building, designed by Columbia, South Carolina architects Lafaye and Lafaye, is an excellent example of a Georgian Revival building, a style often used during the 1920s and 1930s for government buildings in smaller towns. The Court House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 10, 2003.
Readingsburg, also known as Stone Mill, is an unincorporated community located along the South Branch Raritan River within Clinton Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
The Warren Mill is a historic textile mill complex at South Carolina Highway 421 and Trestle Pass in Warrenville, South Carolina. It consists of a main four-story brick building, to which a number of one and two-story additions have been made. It was built in 1896-98 to a design by William B. Smith Whaley, a regionally prominent architect of industrial properties. The Warren Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1896, and operated on the premises until 1919, when it was acquired by the Graniteville Mill Company. It operated the plant until its closure in 1982.
The American Spinning Company Mill No. 2 is a historic mill complex at 300 Hammett Street, in a pocket of unincorporated Greenville County, South Carolina surrounded on three sides by the city of Greenville. It is a five-story brick building, to which a number of warehouse buildings and other additions were made. It was built in 1901-02, as part of a major expansion to the American Spinning Company's Mill No. 1, which originally stood just south of Hammett Street. It was built by Oscar Sampson, a Boston textile manufacturer to a design by the industrial design firm Lockwood and Greene, and is one of thirteen early 20th-century mills surviving in the Greenville area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Its major tenant now is the Victor Mill Company, a furniture maker.
Amos D. Lockwood (1811-1884) was an American manufacturer and engineer based in Providence, Rhode Island. He was self-trained as a mechanical engineer, and gradually expanded his scope to all areas of textile mill construction. He was a cofounder, in 1882, of Lockwood, Greene & Company, which would become one of the largest engineering firms in the United States in the twentieth century.
