South Carolina Historical Firsts | SCPRT

Some Historical Firsts in South Carolina

First European settlement in South Carolina in 1526 near Georgetown settled by Spanish explorer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon named San Miguel de Gualdape.

First permanent English settlement in South Carolina established at Albemarle Point in Charleston in 1670.

First indigo planted, 1671.

First free library established – Charleston, 1698.

First mutual fire insurance company – Friendly Society for the Mutual Insurance of Houses Against Fire, 1735.

First opera performed in America – Charleston, February 18, 1735.

First building to be used solely as a theatre – Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, constructed in 1736.

First slave insurrection – Stono area near Charleston, 1739.

First cotton exported to England, 1764.

First Black Baptist Church established, Silver Bluff, 1773.

The Charleston Chamber of Commerce was the first city Chamber of Commerce in this country – 1773.

First public museum – Charleston Museum, organized January 12, 1773.

First business publication – South Carolina Price Current in Charleston, 1774.

The first time a British flag was taken down and replaced by an American flag was in Charleston in 1775.

First independent government formed among American colonies, March 1776.

Golf was first played in the city limits of Charleston. The South Carolina Golf Club was formed in 1786 – this was the first golf club.

First cotton mill built – James Island, 1789.

First tea planted – Middleton Barony, 1802.

First fireproof building built – Charleston, 1822.

First steam locomotive built in the United States to be used for regular railroad service – "Best Friend of Charleston," 1830.

First municipal college – College of Charleston, opened April 1, 1838.

First state to secede from the Union, December 20, 1860.

First shot fired in Civil War on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, April 12, 1861.

First Medal of Honor awarded to a Black recipient – W. H.Carney (Army), July 18, 1863.

The first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship was the H.L. Hunley used by the Confederates on February 17, 1864 in Charleston Harbor against the U.S.S. Housatonic.

First African American to serve in the United States Congress -- Joseph Hayne Rainey, 1869-1879.

First Black Associate Justice of a state supreme court – J. J. Wright, February 2, 1870.

The first state intercollegiate football game took place on December 14, 1889 with Wofford defeating Furman.

First commercial tea farm – Summerville, 1890.

First black woman to practice medicine in the state was Dr. Matilda Arabelle Evans in 1897.

First textile school established in a college – Clemson, 1899.

The first car was manufactured in Rock Hill by John Gary Anderson in January 1916.

First woman lawyer in South Carolina – Miss James M. Perry of Greenville was admitted to practice on May 4, 1918.

First national historic preservation ordinance passed by Charleston city council on October 13, 1931.

First television station WCSC broadcast from Charleston June 13, 1953.

First US Senator elected by a write-in vote – Strom Thurmond, November 2, 1954.

First nuclear power plant dedicated at Parr Shoals on October 24, 1963.

First Spoleto Festival held in Charleston, May 1977.

First black federal judge in South Carolina's history – Matthew J. Perry – appointed September 22, 1979.

First governor Richard Riley elected November 6, 1984 to serve two consecutive four-year terms.

Jean Toal – first woman elected to state supreme court in 1988 and later elected chief justice in 2000.

First female and minority to serve as governor of the state of South Carolina – Nikki R. Haley – January 12, 2011.