Kershaw County is home to some of South Carolina’s most notable prehistoric sites as well as the state’s oldest inland city, Camden, thus giving the region an impressive and richly textured human history. Today, Kershaw County is comprised of 726 square miles and has a population of 67,751 people according the US Census Bureau.

In 1768, legislature created the Camden District which included Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Richland, Fairfield, Chester, York, Lancaster, and Kershaw Counties known today. The following year, one of seven Circuit Courts in South Carolina was established in Camden. The Courthouse at the corner of Broad and King Streets in Camden and the Jail opposite the Courthouse were completed in 1771. The first session of Court for the Camden District was in held in 1772. The Courthouse and Jail both burned in 1779.

Still the most familiar icon of the county is an early weathervane silhouette honoring the Catawba Indian chief King Hagler for protecting pioneer settlers. An important colonial milling and trading center, Camden was seized by the British under Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution and fortified as their backcountry headquarters. Eight battles and skirmishes were fought within the modern boundaries of Kershaw County, including the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780, and the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill on April 25, 1781. British forces occupy Camden from June1, 1780 to May 10, 1781.

In 1785, the Camden District subdivided into Lancaster, York, Fairfield, Richland, Claremont and Clarendon Counties. The first form of municipal government was created in Camden named the Commissioners of Streets and Market.

Named for Revolutionary War patriot Joseph Kershaw, the county was created in 1791 from portions of Claremont, Fairfield, Lancaster, and Richland counties. Camden was named the county seat and Town Council form of government created, with intendant and four wardens. In the spring of 1791, President George Washington visited Camden on his Southern tour.

In 1799, the county court system in South Carolina was abolished and Kershaw County became known as Kershaw District. The term county was not resumed until 1868. The estimated population of Kershaw County in 1800 was 7,340.

Kershaw County developed its local economy through plantation agriculture, an enterprise dependent on African slave labor. Distinctive homes were built on rural plantations and in Camden, and a village of well-to-do planters grew up at Liberty Hill. Six Confederate generals claimed the county as their birthplace, and the area also was home to Mary Boykin Chestnut, acclaimed diarist of the Civil War.

The first of the Camden (horse) Races was held in January of 1802 and the first known printing of a newspaper occurred in May of 1802. In 1816, the Camden Gazette begins publication and later becomes the Camden Gazette; Mercantile Advertiser in 1818. The Camden Chronicle begins publication in 1822 and later changed its name to The Southern Chronicle in 1824.

In 1822, the bank in Camden was established (branch of the S.C. State Bank) but falls in bankruptcy in 1865. The Bank of Camden was established in October of 1836 but also falls into bankruptcy in 1865.

King Haiglar weathervane was raised on the Camden Market (corner of Broad and King Streets) in 1826. The Kershaw District Courthouse on the corner of Broad and King Streets in Camden was completed in 1827 and named after renowned architect Robert Mills. The Robert Mills Courthouse was renovated in 1847 and served as a courthouse of nearly 80 years.

In 1828, first bridge over Wateree River at Camden was completed but was washed away in a flood in 1831. After the bridge was washed away, the Wateree Bridge Company begins operating ferry and was discontinued in 1838 when the new bridge over the Wateree River was completed. The Wateree River bridge was burned by General Sherman and his troops in 1865.

In 1865, Federal troops under General William T. Sherman occupied Camden. Fires set by General Sherman’s troops destroyed the Kershaw-Cornwallis House, the east side of Broad Street between DeKalb and Rutledge Streets, and the Wateree River Bridge.

Railroad reaches Camden in November of 1848 with the branch of the South Carolina Railroad.

In 1887, Three C’s railroad line constructed and Southern Railway took it over in 1902. The town of Kershaw was incorporated in 1888 and later annexed to Lancaster County in 1978. The Seaboard Railroad line through Kershaw County was established in 1899. Northwestern Railway build line connecting Camden with Sumter, later owned by Atlantic Coast Line.

The first telephone service in Kershaw County was established in 1896. The first car comes to Kershaw County in 1900 and the Town of Bethune is chartered. The estimated population in Kershaw County in 1900 was 24,696. The Town of Blaney is incorporated in 1908 and later changed to Elgin in 1962 after the new Elgin Watch Company.

The Wateree Dam constructed and Lake Wateree created in 1919. Wateree Power Company builds power plant. Wooden toll bridge across Wateree River opens in 1920 and replaces ferry system.

The Cleveland School Fire of 1923 in the Charlotte Thompson community was the fourth deadliest school fire in American history and the deadliest fire in South Carolina history. The fire occurred during the school play “Miss Topsy Turvy” and claimed the lives of 77 people. The tragedy had a significant impact on adopting strict building and fire codes in the United States.

Cleveland School

John G. Richards Jr. of Liberty Hill in Kershaw County was elected the 96 th Governor in South Carolina in November of 1926. Governor Richards became the first governor to serve a four-year term after the South Carolina Constitution was amended in 1926.

Kershaw County is also known as the Steeplechase Capital of the World. The inaugural Carolina Cup was run in 1930 at Ernest Woodward’s Springdale Race Course in Camden. A sterling trophy crafted in Ireland in 1704 and dedicated to the great horseman Thomas Hitchcock was secured for the occasion. Three thousand spectators gathered on a cold and damp March 22 for an opening card of three races and to watch Ballast II gallop to victory over a three-mile course of timber fences to win the feature, the Carolina Cup. The Colonial Cup was first held on November 14, 1970.

The Southern Aviation School in Camden, trained military pilots between March 1941 and August 1944. Assisted by S.C. aviation commissioner Dexter C. Martin and the Camden and Kershaw County Airport Commission, the school leased Woodward Airport in Camden and obtained an army contract.

Paved runways, additional buildings, and new auxiliary fields were developed during the war years, and more than six thousand pilots were graduated. Shortly after the school closed in August 1944, its flying field was covered with surplus U.S. Navy warplanes, and German prisoners of war occupied its barracks. Later the school’s war-time facilities were sold, and the Camden Military Academy came into existence.

Local radio station WACA begins broadcasting in Camden in July of 1948.

Construction on DuPont’s Orlon May Plant in Lugoff was completed in 1950. The plant went into commercial operation in May 1952. The plant located on the Wateree River employed 2000 people and was the largest employer in Kershaw County for decades. The plant produced acrylic fibers used in curtains, dress goods and industrial fibers. May Plant was sold to Invista, Inc. in 2003.

Dupont circa. 1952

Kershaw County native John Carl West is inaugurated as Governor of South Carolina in 1971.
Governor West was later appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1977.

N.R. Goodale State Park is developed in 1973 and Interstate 20 is completed in Kershaw County.

North Central High Schools opens on Lockhart Road in 1976 and the Town of Kershaw was annexed to Lancaster County in 1978.

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo devastated Kershaw County. After Hurricane Hugo made landfall in Charleston with winds of 139mph, the hurricane tracked through Kershaw County. The entire county was without power and some residences would remain without power for several weeks. An estimated 2600 mobile homes were damaged, timber damage was estimated at $29 million, school buildings had $7.7 million in damages, and government buildings suffered $40,000 in damages.

Kendall Mill Dam collapsed on October 10, 1990 due to heavy rain. The wall of water took out the back wall of Haile Street Grill and damaged homes and businesses as far as East Dekalb Street. The flood waters swept two vehicles from Highway 1 downstream. Four people died in the flooding.

On July 31, 1991, an Amtrak Train en route from Florida to Washington, D.C. derailed behind DuPont’s May Plant in Lugoff. Six of the 18-car passenger train carrying 426 passengers were involved in the collision with parked freight cars. Eight passengers were killed and nearly 100 passengers were injured. The derailment was the worst rail accident in South Carolina history at the time.

Larry Doby, the first African-American in the American League, was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. Doby died on June 18, 2003 and his statue was unveiled on the grounds of Camden Archives in March of 2013.

Between December 2021 and December 2022, southeastern Kershaw County experienced over 80 earthquakes. Six of the earthquakes exceeded a 3.0 magnitude with the largest registering 3.6.

https://experiencecamdensc.com/visitors/what-to-do-page/museums/historical-timeline/

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/carolina-cup/

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/southern-aviation-school/

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cleveland-school-fire/

https://www.kershawcountychamber.org/history/