Lexington County

This Union campaign is one of the most controversial of the Civil War because of the damage it wrought to civilian property and the questions it raised about fair play in war.

The Lake Murray Dam project of the late 1920s brought more than four thousand workmen, creating an unexpected economic boom. It also transformed the region into a recreational mecca for fisherman, water sports enthusiasts, and others mesmerized by the beauty of an enormous, man-made lake covering nearly eighty square miles.

The opening of the Lexington Textile Mill in 1890 brought some 150 manufacturing jobs to the area, but the commerce of Lexington remained in the shadow of Columbia to the east and the twin towns of Leesville and Batesburg to the west. In 1894 and 1918 disastrous fires gutted Main Street.

For most of its history, agriculture virtually defined South Carolina, and no other single force has so profoundly influenced the state’s economy, history, demographics, and politics.

The “Railway Age” in South Carolina lasted until after World War I. With greater usage of automobiles, buses, and trucks, which traveled over ever-improving public roads, the need for freight and passenger trains diminished.

All of the large lakes in South Carolina were created during the twentieth century when energy companies built dams on nearly all of the major river systems to produce hydroelectric power.

During the Civil War, Caroline Rucker Cayce opened the doors of the house to soldiers and travelers making the journey to and from the lowcountry. The coming of the railroads in the nineteenth century gave birth to the modern city of Cayce.