Laurens County

Spanning the state in a broad northeast to southwest band, the Piedmont is the second-largest of South Carolina’s landform regions, encompassing 10,500 square miles, nearly one-third of the state’s total area.

Originally known as Clinton College, the institution became the Presbyterian College of South Carolina in 1890, when oversight of the college was increased to include all presbyteries in the Synod of South Carolina.

Despite his failure as a novelist and magazine publisher, he kept his sense of humor and somehow came to grips with the cards that life had dealt him.

There was often disagreement in a county about whether to set up or keep rural police. From its start in the 1900s, nearly to Home Rule in the early 1970s, rural police remained part of the law for select counties.

Of the eight canals planned, two were constructed on the Saluda River, enabling cotton from the backcountry to be transported to Charleston. The largest cotton mill in the state, the Saluda Factory, was built on the river in the 1830s.

Legislator, judge, governor. Simpson was born in Laurens District on October 27 1823, son of John Wells Simpson and Elizabeth…

Musician. Thanks to the widespread popularity of his instrumental hit “Guitar Boogie,” Arthur Smith became one of the better-known guitarists…

Named for Thomas Sumter, famed partisan of the American Revolution, Sumter National Forest encompasses over 350,000 acres in the Piedmont…

Whitten Center was South Carolina’s first and largest institution housing persons labeled as mentally handicapped or developmentally disabled. Located in…

Educator. Wofford was born on October 20, 1894, in Laurens, the eldest of ten children of John Albert Wofford and…

Young promoted philanthropy. In Clinton she led efforts to create Whitten Village, a facility for mentally retarded patients.