Historical Places to Visit
Historical Places to Visit

Alexander S. Salley
Belleville Road, abt 65 yards from corner of King's Road, Orangeburg
Here was the birthplace of Alexander Samuel Salley, who devoted fifty years to the collection, preservation, and publication of the historical records of the state.

Old Dixie Club Library
Corner of Bull & Middleton Streets, Orangeburg
The antebellum structure once stood on Orangeburg's Public Square. In 1865, it was occupied by Federal troops. From 1924 to 1955, it housed the first public library in Orangeburg County, organized by the Dixie Club. The building was eventually given to the Orangeburg County Historical Society, which moved it in 1955 to its current site, the Pioneer Graveyard.

Eutaw Springs Battlefield
S.C. 6, about 3 miles east of Eutawville
Site of the last major battle in South Carolina in the American Revolution, September 8, 1781.

Defense of Edisto Bridge
Edisto Gardens, Orangeburg
Less than 500 hundred Confederates in rifle pits and manning a small battery temporarily stopped the advance of a wing of the Federal Army commanded by Gen. William T. Sherman. The defenders were outflanked by a much larger force and forced to withdraw on February 12, 1865.

Pioneer Graveyard
Bull Street, Orangeburg
This was the final resting place for early inhabitants dating from the time of the first settlement of Orangeburg in 1735 until the founding of various denominational cemeteries. The first church in the Orangeburg area was erected here about 1750 by the Swiss & German settlers of the Rev. John Giessendanner's congregation.

North, SC
In 1891, John F. North, Samson A. Livingston, and George W. Pou each gave 100 acres of land to establish a town and railway depot. The separate tracts of land joined at a spot near the front of the North Town Hall. The town was named in honor of John F. North, a Confederate veteran who was elected first mayor.

Court House Square
On the Square at Russell, Orangeburg
The third court house, designed by State Architect Robert Mills, was erected on this site in 1826. The building was destroyed by Union forces during their occupation of February 12-13, 1865. The fourth court house was constructed in 1875 and was used until 1928, when it was razed, and the site converted into a park.

Eutawville
Intersection of S.C. 6 and S.38-45
Settled in the 1840's on higher ground of the upper St. John's Parish, the town was founded by Santee River plantation owners as a summer refuge. In 1886, the railroad was established. The town was chartered December 24, 1888 in Berkeley County, but was annexed to Orangeburg County in 1910.


Grave of Major John Majorbanks
2.5 miles east of Eutawville at Eutaw Springs on S.C. 6
After the Battle of Eutaw Springs, the British army camped at Wantcot Plantation, home of Daniel Ravenel. The original site, about 25 miles southeast of St. John's Parish and 5 miles west of Bonneau, is now under Lake Moultrie. Major John Majorbanks died and was buried there on October 22, 1781. In 1941, his grave and marker were moved to the current location by the South Carolina Public Authority.

Judge Glover's Home
Whitman Street, Orangeburg
The house, used as headquarters by General William T. Sherman in February 1865, was built in 1846 by Thomas Worth Glover (1789-1884). Glover was a signer of the Ordinance of Secession, as well as a teacher, lawyer, legislator, and circuit judge. The house has been remodeled several times over the years, and originally fronted on Russell Street.

Old Charleston Road
U.S. 178 near the junction with U.S. 21
This was the first public road connecting Orangeburg with Charleston, and was authorized by an Act of the General Assembly passed March 16, 1737. Laid out from Izard's Cowpen, about 10 miles north of Old Dorchester, is spanned two wide swamps. Early settlers constructed the road and provided for maintenance.

Walnut Grove Church
S. 38-92, 4 miles south of U.S. 301
A branch of Four Holes Baptist Church, the church was admitted to the Charleston Association in 1869 and joined the Orangeburg Association in 1913. The current building was constructed about 1883. The foundation sills are pegged together, and the seats & pew backs are solid wide hand-planed boards.

White House Church
U.S. 301, 10 miles north of Orangeburg
The four acre tract with an earlier structure known as the White Meeting House was given to the Methodist Episcopal Church on October 1, 1790. The deed for this transaction is believed to be the earliest documented record of Methodism in Orangeburg County. In 1801 & 1803, the Society was visited by Francis Asbury, pioneer Bishop of American Methodism.

Zion Church
U.S. 301, 5 miles south of Orangeburg
Evidence shows that this is one of the earliest Methodist churches in the Orangeburg area. The original building, built before the Civil War, was replaced in the 1880s. Appointed ministers replace circuit riders around 1843. Zion was abandoned as a full-time church in the early 1930s.


 

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