Aiken County
85 places on the trail: 84 highway markers, 1 battlefields and state sites.
People of Aiken County in Carolina Quotes
Colonial (pre-contact to 1763)
Era of American Revolution (1764-1783)
- 02-75Galphin's FortGalphin’s Fort was a stockaded colonial-era outpost at nearby Silver Bluff. The fort was built at the home and trading p...
- 02-11Samuel HammondBorn 1757 in Virginia, this Indian fighter, who later moved to Edgefield District, attained the rank of Lieutenant Colon...
- 02-21Silver Bluff Baptist ChurchThis church, one of the first black Baptist churches in America, grew out of regular worship services held as early as t...
- 02-06The Martintown RoadIn the 1730s, an Indian path from Fort Moore to the Saluda ridge was used by traders going to the Cherokee Nation. Later...
Antebellum (1816-1860)
- 02-23AikenAiken, chartered in 1835 and the county seat of Aiken County since its creation in 1871, was an early stop on the railro...
- 02-53Aiken Colored CemeteryThis cemetery, established in 1852 as a city cemetery, became Pine Lawn Memorial Gardens in 1988. The only burial ground...
- 02-29Aiken First Baptist ChurchThis church, founded in 1805, predates the city of Aiken and was first called Levels Baptist Church. Its first location ...
- 02-07Beech Island Agricultural ClubOn January 5, 1856, Governor James H. Hammond and eleven other farmers of this area organized the Beech Island Agricultu...
- 02-14Beech Island Baptist ChurchThis church was organized in the Beech Island Academy on January 21, 1832, with Rev. Iverson Brooks as its first ministe...
- 02-80Chancellor Carroll HouseBuilt c.1856 for James Parsons Carroll (1809-1883), this is the last surviving house from the original Kalmia village, a...
- 02-46Coker SpringThe freshwater spring less than 1/4 mi. SW was used by prehistoric Indians. It was deeded to the town of Aiken in 1844 b...
- 02-18Downer Institute & SchoolDowner Institute, founded in 1843, was originally located 1.5 mi. NE of this site and operated until 1865. It was named ...
- 02-40First Presbyterian Church of AikenThis church, founded in 1858 with 14 charter members and W. Peronneau Finley and John D. Legare as elders, first met in ...
- 02-54Graniteville AcademyThis Carpenter Gothic school was built in 1848 by the Graniteville Mill, then the largest textile mill in S.C. William G...
- 02-30Graniteville CemeteryThis cemetery, established about 1850, is closely associated with the Graniteville Mill, the largest and most successful...
- 02-22Graniteville MillThis mill, the largest textile mill in antebellum S.C., was chartered in 1845 and opened in 1847. It was founded by Will...
- 02-03HamburgSituated between this point and the Savannah River, Hamburg was a thriving river port and trading center for cotton and ...
- 02-62HamburgHamburg, located in the surrounding area, was a thriving river port and trading center for cotton and tobacco. Founded i...
- 02-04Historic ChurchThis church was built in 1836 by Beech Island Presbyterian Church, organized in 1827 with the Rev. Nathan H. Hoyt of Ver...
- 02-77Inclined PlaneNear here is the site of the Inclined Plane, a crucial segment of the original S.C. Railroad. The railroad’s mainline wa...
- 02-52KalmiaThis is the site of Kalmia, the home and plantation and William Gregg (1800-1867), pioneer industrialist of the antebell...
- 02-64Legare-Morgan HouseOne of the oldest houses in Aiken, this was home to the Legare family, including writer James Mathewes Legare (1823-1859...
- 02-26Original Survey of AikenThe town of Aiken, on land donated by Mr. Beverly M. Rodgers to the S.C. Rail Road in 1834, was laid out around a core o...
- 02-10Pascalis PlantationElizabeth Pascalis purchased these 790 acres in 1835, settled here with her son Cyril Ouviere, and brought the orphaned ...
- 02-24Pickens-Salley HouseThis plantation house, first known as “Edgewood,” is an excellent example of Federal-era architecture. Originally near E...
- 02-01South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company Original Track LocationBegan first successful scheduled steam railroad service in America on December 25, 1830, and by 1833 its 136 miles from ...
- 02-35St. John's Methodist ChurchThis church has its origin in 1825 as a Methodist congregation on the Hollow Creek Circuit that predates the city of Aik...
- 02-12St. Thaddeus ChurchThis Episcopal Church (cornerstone laid Sept. 5, 1842) was consecrated Aug. 9, 1843. It is the city's oldest church stru...
- 02-02Western Terminus South Carolina RailroadNear the foot of this bluff in the old town of Hamburg stood the western terminus of the S.C. Canal and Rail Road Co. Be...
- 02-67Williams CemeteryThis cemetery dates to the 1820s and was in use prior to the founding of the Town of Aiken (1835). It was established by...
- 02-70Williams HouseThis house was built for the family of William White Williams (1787-1845), a planter and S.C. legislator for Barnwell Di...
Civil War (1861-1865)
Reconstruction (1866-1876)
- 02-08Aiken CountyAiken County, created in 1871 from parts of Barnwell, Edgefield, Lexington, and Orangeburg counties, was named for Willi...
- 02-79Aiken CountyAs early as the 1820s, residents in this part of S.C. sought to create a new county due to the need for a local courthou...
- 02-71Friendship Baptist ChurchThis is one of the oldest historically Black churches in Aiken. It was organized in 1866 by formerly enslaved members of...
- 02-42Highland Park HotelThe Highland Park Hotel, Aiken’s first grand tourist hotel, stood atop this plateau. It was built in 1869-70 and opened ...
- 02-59Providence Baptist ChurchProvidence Baptist Church was established by enslaved and free people of African descent in the town of Hamburg. After t...
- 02-19Schofield SchoolThis school was founded by the Freedmen's Bureau shortly after the Civil War to educate freedmen, women, and children. I...
- 02-13Site of EllentonPost office est. here 1873. Town chartered 1880. Ellenton and surrounding area purchased by US Govt in early 1950s for e...
- 02-15Storm Branch Baptist ChurchThis church had its origins at or near this site in 1772 as a plantation chapel, in what was Edgefield District until af...
- 02-45The Hamburg MassacreThe Hamburg Massacre, which occurred nearby on July 8, 1876, was one of the most notable incidents of racial and politic...
New South (1877-1913)
- 02-55Adath Yeshurun SynagogueAiken’s permanent Jewish community dates to 1890, when immigrants from Eastern Europe, many of them from Knyszyn, Poland...
- 02-16Aiken InstituteThe Aiken Institute, which gave this area the name of "Institute Hill," was chartered in 1888. The main building, design...
- 02-60Aiken Railroad DepotThe Aiken Railroad Depot was constructed in 1899 by the Southern Railway. Built largely to service the wealthy travelers...
- 02-66Aiken's Jewish MerchantsSustained Jewish settlement in Aiken dates to the 1890s. By 1920, a concentration of Jewish-owned businesses had opened ...
- 02-65Gaston Livery StableThe turn-of-the-century barn to the south is a notable example of eclectic Victorian, brick, U-shaped barn design and co...
- 02-17Hampton Terrace HotelThe Hampton Terrace Hotel, an exclusive winter resort, stood atop this hill from 1903 to 1916. The $536,000, 5-story hot...
- 02-31Hitchcock WoodsHitchcock Woods, one of the largest urban forests in the United States, is an area consolidated between 1891 and 1898 by...
- 02-84HopelandsHopelands was the 14-acre winter estate of C. Oliver (1854-1932) and Hope Goddard Iselin (1868-1970). They acquired the ...
- 02-28Jacksonville SchoolJacksonville School, built by the Jacksonville Lodge in 1895, taught the black children of this community until 1936. Gr...
- 02-05James U. Jackson Memorial BridgeThe first North Augusta bridge was built in 1891 by James U. Jackson. The present bridge, built in 1939, was formally de...
- 02-72Lookaway HallA fine local example of the Beaux Arts style, Lookaway Hall was built in c.1900 for Walter Mixer Jackson. The white-colu...
- 02-20Marie Cromer Seigler HouseThis house was for many years the home of Marie Cromer Seigler (1882-1964), educator and national pioneer in agricultura...
- 02-25Millbrook Baptist ChurchThis church, formally organized in 1884, had its origins in a Sunday school class organized in 1874. With 16 charter mem...
- 02-81North Augusta Trolley StationThis was the site of the North Augusta station of the Augusta-Aiken Railway, a trolley line that opened in 1902. It was ...
- 02-83Palmetto LodgeIn 1903 a clubhouse was built on this site to serve guests of the newly opened Hampton Terrace Hotel. N.Y. lawyer John W...
- 02-74Polo in AikenPolo was first played in the U.S. in 1876. In 1882, the first polo match in S.C. took place in Aiken. The sport’s introd...
- 02-85Rye PatchIn 1897, William R. Travers Jr. (1861-1905) of N.Y. acquired this 10-acre site for a winter estate named Rye Patch. He h...
- 02-76St. Catherine C.M.E. ChurchIn 1890, this became the site of St. Catherine Colored Methodist Episcoapl (C.M.E.) Church. Tradition maintains that the...
- 02-38The Augusta and Aiken RailwayThe Augusta and Aiken Railway, a 26-mile interurban electric trolley line between Augusta, Ga., and Aiken, operated from...
- 02-43WagenerWagener, established after the Blackville, Alston, & Newberry RR built its line from Blackville to Seivern in 1887-88, w...
- 02-39Whitney ParkThis park, laid out in 1904-05, was named for William Collins Whitney (1841-1904). Whitney, a lawyer, Secretary of the N...
- 02-63Zion Hill Missionary Baptist ChurchThe congregation of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church originated c.1894, when tradition holds that members began worsh...
World War I and the Interwar Period (1913-1941)
- 02-69African Americans in the CCCAiken State Park was one of 17 state parks built in S.C. by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which was racially se...
- 02-50Aiken Graded SchoolThis park is the site of Aiken Graded School, a two-story brick school built 1924-25. It was built for black pupils in g...
- 02-47Aiken HospitalThe first public hospital in Aiken, at the corner of Richland Ave. and Vaucluse Rd., was built in 1917 for the Aiken Hos...
- 02-51Aiken Preparatory SchoolAiken Preparatory School (APS), founded in 1916 as a boarding school for “junior gentlemen” in grades 4-8, was a fixture...
- 02-57BanksiaBanksia, named for the yellow roses of the same name that grow here, was commissioned in 1931 by Richard Howe – Aiken Wi...
- 02-56CarrsvilleThis African-American community was established in1930 after two floods on the Savannah River washed away most of the to...
- 02-49Leavelle McCampbell SchoolThis Classical Revival school, built by the Graniteville Mill in 1921-22, was designed by noted Augusta architect Willis...
- 02-86Lynching of the Lowman FamilyIn Oct. 1926, Bertha Lowman Cheatham (b.1892) and Damon (b.1902) and Clarence Lowman (b.1911) were taken from the Aiken ...
- 02-78McGhee BlockThis seven-storefront brick building was built in 1920 by African American contractors and cousins William M. McGhee and...
- 02-33North AugustaNorth Augusta, chartered in 1906, includes the site of two early towns. Campbell Town was a trading post on the Savannah...
- 02-68Pickens-Salley HouseThis white frame building, first known as “Edgewood,” was an excellent example of Federal-era architecture. Originally n...
World War II and After (1941-present)
- 02-73A.L. Corbett SchoolA.L. Corbett School for grades 1-12 opened at this site in 1954. The $600,000-facility was funded by the state equalizat...
- 02-32Aiken County Farmer's MarketThe Aiken County Farmers’ Market, founded in 1951, was originally an open air market sponsored by the Edisto Grange. Thi...
- 02-34Jefferson High SchoolJefferson High School opened in 1956 as a junior high and high school for African-American students of Beech Island, Bel...
- 02-82Sardis Elementary SchoolSardis Elementary School opened at this site in 1954. The school served African American residents of Salley and surroun...
- 02-27Savannah River PlantThe Savannah River Plant (SRP) was built 1950-56 by Du Pont for the Atomic Energy Commission. SRP, a nuclear production ...
- 02-44The Detection of the Neutrino, 1956On August 27, 1956, at the Savannah River Plant (now Savannah River Site), Drs. Clyde L. Cowan, Jr. (1919-1974) and Fred...
- 02-41World War II POW CampGerman prisoners of war were held in a camp on this site from November 1943 to May 1946. This camp, one of 21 in S.C., w...