Environment and Geography

To consolidate Sanders and Campbellton, proposed names were placed in a hat and a child drew “Fairfax.”

Fairfield County, lying in the lower Piedmont, is a geologically diverse region with topography ranging from level plains to hilly terrain.

South Carolina’s commercial film industry is almost as old as filmmaking itself. The first documented filmed images of South Carolina were in newsreels taken at the 1902 Charleston Exposition.

The progressive reputation of Florence earned it All-American status in 1966, and the population exceeded 25,000 by 1970.

Natural wonders abound along the Foothills Trail, including waterfalls, bears, deer, grouse, turkeys, trout, salamanders, hemlocks, laurels, rhododendrons, and trilliums.

Forest Acres flourished as a bedroom community to Columbia and soon posted one of the highest per capita income levels in the state.

The Fort Hill complex is comprised of the dwelling house, Calhoun’s office, a reconstructed kitchen, and a springhouse.

Fort Mill had become a popular bedroom community by the late 1980s, and industry and residential growth continued to fuel the community through the 1990s.

Nearly a dozen rare, threatened, or endangered species are protected at Forty-Acre Rock, most notably the endangered pool sprite, which flourishes in vernal pools on the rock’s surface during early spring months.

The oldest fossils known from South Carolina are from the early Paleozoic era, from a time period termed the Cambrian period, and are about five hundred million years old. Some species called trilobites have been collected from several sites near Batesburg. Trilobites are the oldest extinct group of aquatic arthropods known and are most closely related to modern-day crustaceans and insects.

Other textile mills followed, but Fountain Inn remained primarily a commercial hub for nearby farmers. Twentieth-century transportation developments reinforced Fountain Inn’s prosperity, as the town straddled what emerged as a major north-south highway in the upstate.

The forest contains an exceptional diversity of animal species as well. More than three hundred species of bird have been observed within the forest, including such rarities as swallow-tailed kites and wood storks.

Largely because of its proximity to the railroad, the town initially experienced rapid growth.

General George Washington Goethals was made chief engineer of the Panama Canal in 1907, and he selected Gaillard to oversee dredging and excavation.

The most important figure in eighteenth-century natural history investigations in South Carolina, Garden is best remembered today for the plant Gardenia jasminoides, named for him by John Ellis in 1760.

Both home and commercial gardening were essential to the survival of colonial settlements in South Carolina.

Geologists have divided South Carolina into a series of belts, from the northwest Blue Ridge, southwest to the inner Piedmont belt, the Kings Mountain belt, the Charlotte belt, the Carolina slate belt, and the Kiokee and Belair belts. While inexact, the belts framework allows distinctions between rocks to be made and categorized.

Georgetown’s designation as a port of entry by royal authorities in 1732 greatly improved its prospects. Port activity in Georgetown thrived and the town briefly supported its own shipbuilding industry to meet demands of area planters.

Gold mining began in earnest in South Carolina around 1827. It declined during the Civil War. Effective mining was not resumed until the late 1880s, when northern investors began to purchase gold-bearing property and resumed production. Gold mines in South Carolina were largely dormant from 1900 to 1937.

The region became the home base of the “Goose Creek Men,” the politically and economically powerful faction that consistently challenged the authority of the Lords Proprietors in the colony.