Agriculture

Cheraw’s position on the Great Pee Dee made it an important point of trade and commerce from its inception.

Economically, Cherokee was the heart of the “Old Iron District.” The iron industry that had flourished in the 1700s and 1800s was gone by the end of the Civil War. In the 1880s iron production gave way to railroad construction.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, Chester steadily added the trappings of a modern, progressive city.

Unlike other counties established at the same time, Chester’s dimensions have never been altered, and its distinct rectangular shape is unique among South Carolina counties.

On November 19, 1860, at Chesterfield Courthouse, one of the first secession meetings in the state was held. At the Secession Convention, John Inglis of Cheraw introduced the resolution calling for South Carolina to secede from the Union.

As was the case with other coastal plain districts, the antebellum Clarendon economy revolved around slavery and cotton.

Under the leadership of fourteen presidents since its inception, Clemson’s mission continues to focus primarily on agriculture, engineering, and science, although academic offerings have expanded to include degree programs in the arts, humanities, education, and business.

By the start of the twenty-first century, efforts focused more on families and youth, while still maintaining a strong agricultural base and its traditional emphasis on economic and community development, environmental issues, food safety, and nutrition.

The beauty of the coastal plain is perhaps its greatest resource, not only because it fuels South Carolina’s tourist economy, but also because it reflects the successful preservation of irreplaceable ecosystems. Nearly forty percent of the coastal lands are held in trust, either as preserves or as public parks and other recreational areas.

From the World War I era until his death, Coker became an agricultural evangelist, promoting diversification, improved farming methods, and his seeds through numerous speeches, articles, and personal visits.

Along with his varied business concerns, Coker took a strong interest in promoting education. Largely through his efforts and financing, Coker College, originally a liberal arts college for women (later coeducational), was established in Hartsville in 1908. Coker’s long and successful career provided a human face to the state’s successful transition from the Old South to the New South.

Over the years the company maintained a staff of talented plant breeders and became a major supplier of improved seeds for field crops.

The early Colleton environment was rich but dangerous, subject to debilitating diseases, Spanish and French attack, hurricanes, and slave uprisings. The average wealth for free inhabitants in the region rose to dizzying heights, which helped make South Carolina the wealthiest British colony on the North American mainland.

Until his death, Colleton was the foremost leader of the Lords Proprietors. Under Colleton’s direction, the proprietors set out to populate “Carolina” with settlers from existing New World colonies, including New England, Virginia, and the Caribbean islands, especially Barbados.

By 1992 Columbia Farms had grown to become the largest poultry processor in the state and one of South Carolina’s ten largest privately held companies.

Married in 1672 when she was free from indenture, Affra and Coming founded a substantial plantation, Comingtee on the Cooper River; acquired their own servants; and ceded part of their land claim at Oyster Point for the construction of what is now Charleston.

The Compromise of 1808 settled the issue of representation of the upcountry and helped to unify the state. Ironically, what began as a movement to protect backcountry interests reached fruition only when economic changes in the upcountry meant that upcountry and lowcountry planters found much on which to agree.

Convict leasing came to an end in South Carolina in the 1890s. Its origins lay in the economic demands of a war-torn region and in whites’ desire to use the state’s criminal justice system to control a newly emancipated black population. Changing economic circumstances in the 1890s robbed leasing of its financial appeal.

Conwegians have sought to preserve their past even as they enjoy the present. Many historically significant residences, churches, and commercial and public buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the 1700s landowners began using slaves to carve out rice plantations along the river. By the Revolution, the Cooper and several of its tributaries were important in Carolina rice culture. With the failure of rice culture in the early twentieth century, the banks of the Cooper River were turned to other purposes.