Did You Know?
The oldest brickworks in America were found in Columbia.
Columbia is the boyhood home of President Woodrow Wilson.
Fort Jackson, located in Columbia, is the largest military training base in the country.
The Lake Murray dam is the second largest earthen dam in the world.
The 1920s dance craze, the Big Apple, originated in Columbia.
Riverbanks Zoo is rated one of the top 10 zoos in the nation.
The first American library housed in a separate building was constructed in 1840 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
Only four cities in the nation have more interstate highways intersecting than in Columbia.
Brookgreen Gardens is the world's largest collection of outdoor sculpture.
Middleton Place Gardens are the oldest landscaped gardens in America.
Golf was first played in Charleston, South Carolina. The South Carolina Golf Club was formed in 1786, this was the first golf club.
The nation's only commercial tea farm, American Classic Tea, is located on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston.
The first public museum, the Charleston Museum, was founded in 1772 and is still operating today.
First opera performed in America – Charleston, February 18, 1735.
First fireproof building built – Charleston, 1822.
South Carolina is the nation's largest producer of peaches for the fresh market.
The town of Abbeville is known as “the birthplace and deathbed of the Confederacy.”
The combined cascades of the Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls near the NC/SC border creates one of the highest series of waterfalls in the eastern United States.
The Edisto River is the longest blackwater river in the world.
Bob Jones University in Greenville is the largest, non-denominational Christian liberal arts college in the world.
There are more than 300 public and private golf courses in South Carolina.
Greenwood, SC has the widest main street in the world.
The National Wild Turkey Federation is headquartered in Edgefield, SC.
The Pendleton District is one of the largest national historic districts in America.
Honea Path is the only place in the world with this name.
Campbell's Bridge is the only covered bridge remaining in South Carolina.
The Town Clock in Winnsboro is believed to be the longest continuously running town clock in the USA.
First Medal of Honor awarded to an African-American – W.H. Carney (Army), July 18, 1863.
First African-American Associate Justice of a state supreme court – J.J. Wright, February 2, 1870.
The first textile school established in a college – Clemson University, 1899.
There were more than 8,000 prisoners of war at more than a dozen camps throughout the state at the end of World War II.
An international fair known as The South Carolina Interstate and West Indies Exposition was held in Charleston in 1901-1902.
In the 1830s there were more than 100 gold mines in operation in the state and at that time gold mining was the second largest industry behind agriculture.
Ludy Godbold from Estill was the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1922 Olympics in Paris. She brought home a total of six medals from the games.
The poinsettia flower, so prominently associated with Christmas, is named in honor of Joel R. Poinsett who brought the plant from Mexico where he was ambassador in 1825.
The state is among the top 10 producers of granite and is famous for its blue granite, the state stone.