Orangeburg County, South Carolina

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Orangeburg County, South Carolina
Map of South Carolina highlighting Orangeburg County
Location in the U.S. state of South Carolina
Map of the United States highlighting South Carolina
South Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded 1769
Named for William V, Prince of Orange
Seat Orangeburg
Largest city Orangeburg
Area
 • Total 1,128 sq mi (2,922 km2)
 • Land 1,106 sq mi (2,865 km2)
 • Water 22 sq mi (57 km2), 1.9%
Population
 • (2010) 92,501
 • Density 84/sq mi (32/km²)
Congressional districts 2nd, 6th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.orangeburgcounty.org

Orangeburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 92,501.[1] Its county seat is Orangeburg.[2] The county was created in 1769.[3]

Orangeburg County comprises the Orangeburg, SC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Columbia-Orangeburg-Newberry, SC Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the Midlands region of South Carolina.

It is home to Claflin University, a private college located in Orangeburg that is the oldest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the state. It is also the location of South Carolina State University, the only public four-year HBCU in the state.

History

The district was occupied for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. By the time of European encounter, Siouan-speaking tribes, such as the Pee Dee, Cheraw and Catawba, inhabited the piedmont area.

The Orangeburg Judicial District was chartered in 1769 from a mostly unorganized upland area between the Congaree and Savannah rivers. A county, initially of the same name but later called Orange, was organized within the district but deorganized in 1791.

The southwest portion bordering on the Savannah River, about half of Orangeburg District, was separated and organized as Barnwell District in 1800. In 1804 the northern third of the district was separated to form the new Lexington District, which gained another, smaller portion of Orangeburg District in 1832.

During the nineteenth century, the districts and counties were developed chiefly as cotton plantations for short-staple cotton. This development followed the invention of the cotton gin in the late eighteenth century, which made the processing of short-staple cotton profitable. The county became a center of labor by black slaves on the plantations, who were transported from coastal areas and the Upper South to cultivate and process cotton. Those brought from the coastal areas were likely of the Gullah culture and language. They greatly outnumbered the white planters and non-slaveholding whites. Reflecting the patterns of nineteenth-century settlement, the area is still chiefly agricultural and majority-African American in population.

In 1868, under the revised state constitution during the Reconstruction era, South Carolina districts were organized as counties. Resident voters were enabled to elect their state representatives rather than having them chosen by the state legislature, as was done previously. Election of representatives by the state legislature had kept the districts dominated by the elite owners of major plantations in the Low Country and elsewhere. The changes in rules expanded participation in the franchise by more male residents. Emancipation of slaves after the war under newly ratified federal constitutional amendments resulted in freedmen voting. Using voter intimidation, white Democrats took control of the state legislature by the end of the century; they passed state electoral laws and a new constitution that essentially disfranchised most blacks, a situation that lasted until the federal legislation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

A small western portion of Orangeburg County was annexed to the newly formed Aiken County in 1871.

In 1908 the northern portion of the County along the Congaree River was separated and included in the newly formed Calhoun County, with its seat at Saint Matthews. In 1910 a small western portion of Berkeley County, around Holly Hill and Eutawville, was annexed to Orangeburg County, thus bringing the county to its present size.

Geography

File:Orangeburg courthouse 1274.JPG
First Baptist Church, downtown Orangeburg, SC

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,128 square miles (2,920 km2), of which 1,106 square miles (2,860 km2) is land and 22 square miles (57 km2) (1.9%) is water.[4] It is the second-largest county in South Carolina by land area and fifth-largest by land area.

Adjacent counties

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Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1790 18,513 —
1800 15,766 −14.8%
1810 13,229 −16.1%
1820 15,653 18.3%
1830 18,453 17.9%
1840 18,519 0.4%
1850 23,582 27.3%
1860 24,896 5.6%
1870 16,865 −32.3%
1880 41,395 145.4%
1890 49,393 19.3%
1900 59,663 20.8%
1910 55,893 −6.3%
1920 64,907 16.1%
1930 63,864 −1.6%
1940 63,707 −0.2%
1950 68,726 7.9%
1960 68,559 −0.2%
1970 69,789 1.8%
1980 82,276 17.9%
1990 84,803 3.1%
2000 91,582 8.0%
2010 92,501 1.0%
Est. 2014 90,090 [5] −2.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2013[1]
Confederate memorial, Orangeburg, South Carolina

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 92,501 people residing in the county. 62.2% were Black or African American, 34.3% White, 0.8% Asian, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% of some other race and 1.2% of two or more races. 1.9% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 91,582 people, 34,118 households, and 23,882 families residing in the county. The population density was 83 people per square mile (32/km²). There were 39,304 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.86% Black or African American, 37.17% White, 0.46% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 34,118 households out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.10% were married couples living together, 20.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.00% under the age of 18, 11.90% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,567, and the median income for a family was $36,165. Males had a median income of $29,331 versus $20,956 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,057. About 17.00% of families and 21.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.20% of those under age 18 and 22.30% of those age 65 or over.

Native Americans

The Pee Dee tribes (such as the Beaver Creek Indians and the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Beaver Creek) traditionally occupied land between the two forks of the Edisto River in Orangeburg County, and especially along Beaver Creek, as did their ancestors for thousands of years before European encounter. Their original language family was Siouan. English colonial accounts from the 18th century acknowledge the Pee Dee peoples in this area.

Many Pee Dee tribe members still live in this area. In 1998 the tribe established its government as a non-profit organization, known as the Beaver Creek Indians. They achieved state recognition as a tribe on January 27, 2006, but are still working toward federal recognition. This has been more difficult for some of the older, landless tribes who became more assimilated during and after the colonial era. Today the Beaver Creek people speak English as their first language. They are a multi-racial people, having absorbed both European and African people into their culture over the centuries. Common family names within the tribe are: Chavis, Hutto, Williams, Barr, Bolin, Jackson, Huffman and Gleaton.

Economy

Orangeburg County is one of the largest agricultural producing counties in South Carolina, with fertile, slightly rolling land. Major crops are cotton, soybeans, corn, turf grass and watermelons.

  • Grain elevator in Orangeburg, SC

  • Soybeans ready for harvest, with center pivot irrigation setup, Orangeburg County, South Carolina

  • Harvested cotton in modules ready for pickup, Orangeburg County, SC

Transportation

Railroads

At least four railroad lines run through Orangeburg County; a former Southern Railway Line, and three CSX lines, the westernmost which was formerly a Seaboard Air Line Railroad line running along US 321.[11]

Major highways

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Communities

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See also

References

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  11. ↑ South Carolina - Railroads
 Lexington County Calhoun County Clarendon County
Barnwell County and Aiken County
  Orangeburg County, South Carolina  
Colleton County and Bamberg County Dorchester County and Berkeley County

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