South Carolina: Darlington County

Darlington County (pop. 68,681) is northeast of Lee County. It’s the only Darlington County in the U.S.

Bruce Springsteen’s song “Darlington County” was on his “Born in the U.S.A.” album (1984).

Come on baby, take a seat on my fender

The county seat of Darlington County is the city of Darlington (pop. 6,289), home of the 75,000-seat Darlington Raceway.

NASCAR has the Southern 500 there every spring.

Darlington has hosted the annual South Carolina Sweet Potato Festival since 1983.

Hartsville (pop. 7,764) is the largest city in Darlington County.

Center Theater (1936)

Coker College, a private liberal arts college with about 1,200 students, is in Hartsville.

Memorial Hall, Coker College

The H.B. Robinson Nuclear Generating Station, near Hartsville, was the first commercial nuclear plant in the Southeast when it opened in 1971.

It was once the world’s largest.

Sonoco Products Company, a packaging company operating around the world, is headquartered in Hartsville.

Based on sales, South Carolina’s largest corporation

NEXT: MARLBORO COUNTY

South Carolina: Lee County

Jun12

Lee County (pop 19,220), northeast of Sumter County, is one of 12 Lee counties in the U.S. – most of them in the Southeast.

The one in Illinois was named for Richard Henry Lee.

Interstate 20 runs through the middle of Lee County; the highway goes from Florence, S.C., west to Columbia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Shreveport, Dallas, and on to West Texas.

The county seat of Lee County is Bishopville (pop. 3,471).

Lee County Courthouse (1908)

Lee County is an historically important area for cotton-growing, and Bishopville is the home of the South Carolina Cotton Museum.

Established in 1993

Bishopville is also the home of the Button King Museum, featuring a wide variety of items (clothing, musical instruments, a car) with buttons attached to them.

For display purposes only

The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden is another attraction in Bishopville.

More than 300 individual plants

Lee State Park is just east of Bishopville.

Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps

Football great Felix Anthony “Doc” Blanchard (1924-2009) grew up partly in Bishopville.

Heisman Trophy winner at West Point

The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp is reputed to live in Lee County.

Seven feet tall and scaly.

NEXT: DARLINGTON COUNTY

South Carolina: Sumter County

Jun10

Sumter County (pop. 107,456) is one of four Sumter counties in the U.S. – all in the Southeast and all named for Thomas Sumter (1734-1832), general in the South Carolina militia in the Revolutionary War.

His statue in front of the Courthouse

Much of the western part of the county is in the High Hills of Santee, a rural area where wealthy planters from the Low Country once built summer homes.

The two-story, Greek Revival mansion at Millford Plantation, near Pinewood (pop. 538), was built for John L. Manning (later South Carolina governor) in 1839-1841.

Some tours are given

Poinsett State Park is near the town of Wedgefield (pop. 1,615).

Rustic cabins are also available.

The county seat of Sumter County is the city of Sumter (pop. 40.254), in the geographic center of the state. It’s known as “The Gamecock City” – because Thomas Sumter’s nickname was “Gamecock.”

Sumter County Courthouse (1907)

Sumter’s Town Hall and Opera House, with its 100-foot tower, was built in 1895. It was a movie theater from 1936 to 1982; today, it serves as City Hall and as a performing arts center.

In the Richardsonian Romanesque style

Sumter is the birthplace (and still the home) of New York Yankees great Bobby Richardson.

He won five Gold Gloves, 1961-65.

Swan Lake-Iris Gardens in Sumter is reputed to be the only public park in the U.S. with eight species of swans.

It began in 1927.

Sumter is the home of the two-year University of South Carolina Sumter (1973) and the four-year Morris College (1908), a historically black college.

The town of Mayesville (pop. 731) was the birthplace of Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) – educator, civil rights leader, and advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A founder of Bethune-Cookman University in Florida

NEXT: LEE COUNTY

South Carolina: Calhoun County

Jun7

Calhoun County is one of 11 Calhoun counties in the U.S. All of them are named for John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), senator from South Carolina and the seventh vice president of the U.S. (serving under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson).

A graduate of Yale

Calhoun County (pop. 15,175) is South Carolina’s smallest county in size and third smallest in population.

The county seat is St. Matthews (pop. 2,021), the second-smallest county seat in the state.

Calhoun County Courthouse (1913)

The Calhoun County Museum and Cultural Center opened in 1975.

Admission is free

Actress Viola Davis was born in St. Matthews in 1965.

Nominated for an Oscar for “The Help” (2011)

The unincorporated community of Sandy Run hosts the semiannual U.S. Marine Corps Mud Run.

“Blood Clots, Bones Heal, Sweat Dries . . . Pride is Forever”

NEXT: SUMTER COUNTY

South Carolina: Barnwell County

Jun5

Barnwell County (pop. 22,621), north of Allendale County, was named for South Carolina soldier and politician John Barnwell (1748-1800). It’s the only Barnwell County in the U.S.

A large part of Barnwell County is occupied by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, which was built in the 1950s to refine nuclear materials for nuclear weapons.

No trespassing, but there are occasional public tours.

The county seat is the city of Barnwell (pop. 4,750).

Barnwell County Courthouse (1879)

Barnwell City Hall (1887) was originally the Bank of Barnwell.

It was renovated by the city in 2008-2009.

The former First Presbyterian Church (1848) in Barnwell is now the home of the Circle Theatre, a local community theater.

It became a theater in 1974.

Barnwell has a free-standing, vertical sundial in front of the courthouse; it’s been telling the time since 1858.

It may be the only one of its kind.

Barnwell State Park is on the outskirts of the town of Blackville (pop. 2,406).

A popular spot for fishing

Also near Blackville is God’s Acre Healing Springs, a natural spring with a tradition of healing power.

NEXT: CALHOUN COUNTY

South Carolina: Allendale County

Jun3

Allendale County, west of Bamberg County and adjacent to Georgia, has a population of 10,419 – second smallest in South Carolina.

Allendale County was the last county established in South Carolina; it was created from pieces of Hampton and Barnwell counties.

Allendale County Courthouse (1922)

The county seat is Allendale (pop. 3,482), home of the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie. The university opened in 1965 and now has about 1,100 students.

Named for the nearby Salkehatchie River

Allendale’s former Carolina Theatre is now the college’s Civic Arts Center.

It was recently renovated.

Allendale’s population fell 21 percent between 1990 and 2010; one reason was the construction of Interstate 95 east of Allendale County, taking much north-south traffic away from U.S. Highway 301.

Several Highway 301 motels closed.

NEXT: BARNWELL COUNTY

South Carolina: Bamberg County

May31

Bamberg County (pop. 15,987) is west of Orangeburg County. It is South Carolina’s third-smallest county in size and fourth-smallest county in population.

It’s the only Bamberg County in the U.S. and is named for Gen. Francis Marion Bamberg (1838-1905), an early community leader.

Not for the German city on the river Regnitz

The county seat is the city of Bamberg (pop. 3,607).

Bamberg County Courthouse (1950)

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was born in Bamberg in 1972.

She attended Orangeburg Preparatory Schools before going to Clemson.

Bamberg County has communities named Denmark (pop. 3,538) and Sweden.

Denmark Amtrak station

Vorhees College is an historically black college in Denmark, affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

St. Philip’s Episcopal Chapel (1935)

Rivers Bridge State Historic Site, near the town of Ehrhardt, marks a Civil War site where Gen. Sherman engaged the Confederate Army.

NEXT: ALLENDALE COUNTY

South Carolina: Orangeburg County

May29

Orangeburg County (pop. 92,501), west of Clarendon County, contains much of the southern shore of Lake Marion.

It was named for William IV, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and is the only Orangeburg County in the U.S.

The Dutch son-in-law of King George II

Orangeburg County is an important agricultural area; its major products are cotton, soybeans, and corn.

Cotton is about one-third of the county’s planted acreage.

The county seat is the city of Orangeburg (pop. 13,964).

Downtown’s Blue Bird Theater (1941) hosts the Orangeburg Part-Time Players (OPTP).

Orangeburg is the home of two historically black universities: Claflin University (1869) and South Carolina State University (1896).

In 1968, Orangeburg was the site of an incident in which three young men were shot and killed by Highway Patrol officers; the men were demonstrating against segregation at the city’s only bowling alley, located near the South Carolina State campus.

Monique Coleman, one of the stars of Disney’s “High School Musical” movies, was born in Orangeburg in 1980.

She played the role of “Taylor.”

The town of Bowman (pop. 968) has the UFO Welcome Center – a homemade, 42-foot-wide flying saucer in the back yard of a resident.

The Grand American Coon Hunt is held every year at the Orangeburg County Fairgrounds in Orangeburg.

The Super Bowl of Coon Hunt competitions

NEXT: BAMBERG COUNTY

South Carolina: Clarendon County

May22

Clarendon County (pop. 34,971) was named for Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674), lord chancellor and advisor to King Charles II of England.

Grandfather of two English monarchs

Clarendon County is southwest of Florence County. South Carolina’s largest lake, Lake Marion, has most of its northern shore in the county.

Lake Marion was created by the construction of the eight-mile, earthen Santee Dam on the Santee River in 1941, providing hydroelectric power for rural electrification in the region.

Fishing is popular on “South Carolina’s Inland Sea.”

The 15,000-acre Santee National Wildlife Refuge, along Lake Marion, has forests, marshlands, and open water.

A major refuge for migratory birds

The heaviest 24-hour snowfall ever recorded in South Carolina was 24 inches on Feb. 10-11, 1973, in Rimini, Clarendon County.

The scene on U.S. Highway 301 in 1973

The county seat of Clarendon County is the city of Manning (pop. 4,108),

Clarendon County Courthouse (1909)

Peggy Parish (1927-1988), author of the Amelia Bedelia books for children, grew up in Manning. The name of Amelia’s “Uncle Alcolu” was taken from the name of a nearby town.

Tennis great Althea Gibson (1927-2003) was born in the Clarendon County community of Silver.

She first won her women’s singles at Wimbledon in 1957.

NEXT: ORANGEBURG COUNTY

South Carolina: Florence County

May20

Florence County (pop. 136,885) is west of Marion County. The only other Florence County is in Wisconsin.

The county seat is the city of Florence (pop. 37,056). It’s the eastern terminus of Interstate 20 (going west to Texas) and is about halfway between New York City and Miami on Interstate 95.

653 miles to Miami, 624 miles to New York City

The central library for Florence County is the Doctors Bruce and Lee Foundation Library in Florence; it was built in 2004 for a cost of $13.5 million.

It has the largest children’s library in the state.

Francis Marion University is about six miles east of Florence. The public university has about 4,000 students.

Established in 1970

The city of Timmonsville (pop. 2,320), birthplace of auto racer Cale Yarborough, has a large Honda plant that produces all-terrain vehicles.

The plant’s 2.5-millionth ATV, in 2012

The city of Lake City (pop. 6,478) was the hometown of Ronald McNair, one of the seven astronauts who died on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.

He had a Ph.D. in physics from MIT.

Mars Bluff, an unincorporated area east of Florence, was accidentally bombed with a nuclear weapon by a U.S. Air Force B-47 in 1958. About 7,600 pounds of conventional explosives exploded, destroying one home and creating a 30-foot-deep crater.

The fissionable uranium and plutonium were not in the Mark 6 bomb at the time.

NEXT: CLARENDON COUNTY

South Carolina: Marion County

May17

Marion County (pop. 33,062) is south of Dillon County. It’s one of 17 Marion counties in the U.S. – most of them named for Francis Marion (1732-1795), a South Carolinian and hero of the Revolutionary War.

It’s shaped something like Laos.

Leslie Nielsen played the role of Gen. Marion in the 1959-61 Walt Disney TV series “The Swamp Fox.”

Years before “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun”

The county seat of Marion County is Marion (pop. 6,939).

Statue of Francis Marion

Marion has an annual Fox Trot Festival.

Marion High School Marching Band

The Marion County Courthouse was built in 1853.

Restored in 1970

The city of Mullins (pop. 4,663) is the home of the South Carolina Tobacco Museum.

It opened in 1998.

NEXT: FLORENCE COUNTY

South Carolina: Dillon County

May15

Dillon County (pop. 32,062), northwest of Horry County, is best known for South of the Border, a roadside attraction located along Interstate 95 and U.S. Highway 301/501 just south of the border with North Carolina.

Often compared to Wall Drug in South Dakota

South of the Border has restaurants, shops (including fireworks for sale), gas stations, a motel, and a small amusement park.

The 165-foot Sombrero Tower

Dillon County was named for James M. Dillon (1826-1913), a prominent local citizen.

The county seat is the city of Dillon (pop. 6,788).

Dillon County Courthouse (1911)

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, grew up in Dillon. As a teen-ager, he waited tables at a South of the Border restaurant.

Valedictorian at Dillon High School

Amtrak’s “Palmetto” train from New York City to Savannah stops in Dillon.

The station was built in 1904.

NEXT: MARION COUNTY

South Carolina: Horry County

May13

Horry County is South Carolina’s second-largest county in size and fifth-largest county in population (269,291). It borders North Carolina on the northeast and the Atlantic Ocean on the southeast.

With its many miles of beaches, Horry County is a popular area for tourism and retirement; its population is about four times as large as it was in 1970 (69,992).

Surfside Beach

The county is named for Peter Horry (1743-1815), a Revolutionary War hero.

No other county is named for him.

This northeastern part of South Carolina is called the Pee Dee region, named for the Pee Dee Indians who lived in the area.

Pee Dee River watershed

The county seat of Horry County is Conway (pop. 16,317).

Conway City Hall (original county Courthouse, 1825)

TV personality Vanna White was born in Conway in 1957.

She’s been on “Wheel of Fortune” since 1982.

Conway has a Riverwalk along the Waccamaw River.

The 140-mile-long river starts in North Carolina.

Coastal Carolina University is in Conway. Founded in 1954, it has about 8,000 students.

Wall School of Business

Myrtle Beach (pop. 27,109) is the largest city in Horry County. It’s along the Grand Strand – a nearly uninterrupted stretch of 60 miles of South Carolina beach.

The Miniature Golf Capital of the World

Since 2010, Myrtle Beach has added a one-mile Boardwalk and the 187-foot-tall SkyWheel.

One of America’s tallest Ferris wheels

NEXT: DILLON COUNTY

South Carolina: Georgetown County

May10

Georgetown County (pop. 60,158), east of Williamsburg County, is the only Georgetown County in the U.S. It was named for King George II of England.

The county seat is the city of Georgetown (pop. 9,163). In the 1840s, it was the largest rice-exporting port in the world.

Shrimp boats in Georgetown Harbor, Winyah Bay

Georgetown is the third-oldest city in South Carolina.

Downtown Georgetown

Hobcaw Barony, near Georgetown, has a 17,000-acre wildlife refuge and more than 40 historic buildings.

Winter home of presidential advisor Bernard Baruch

Mansfield Plantation is a former rice plantation in Georgetown, now open to visitors. It was established in 1718 along the Black River.

Parts of Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot” were filmed there.

Brookgreen Gardens, northeast of Georgetown, is a 9,000-acre wildlife preserve with several themed gardens. It was built on four former rice plantations.

It opened in 1932.

NEXT: HORRY COUNTY

South Carolina: Williamsburg County

May8

Williamsburg County (pop. 34,423) is northeast of Berkeley County. It’s the only Williamsburg County in the U.S.

Williamsburg County and the city of Williamsburg, Va., were both named for King William III of England (William of Orange), who lived from 1650 to 1702.

Virginia’s College of William and Mary was named for William and his queen.

The county seat of Williamsburg County is Kingstree (pop. 3,328), originally called Williamsburg and later King’s Tree.

Williamsburg County Courthouse (1823)

A tall white pine tree was found in the area in the 1700s; King George I claimed the tallest white pines in the colonies for the Royal Navy.

Perfect for a ship’s mast

The 151-mile Black River flows through Kingstree; the dark water is the result of tannins from the swampy vegetation.

Black River near Kingstree

Amtrak’s “Palmetto” train stops daily in Kingstree, going north to Washington, D.C., and south to Savannah.

Built in 1909 for the Atlantic Coast Line

The town of Andrew (pop. 2,861) was the birthplace of comedian-actor Chris Rock (1965) and singer Chubby Checker (1941).

“The Twist” was a big hit in 1960.

NEXT: GEORGETOWN COUNTY

South Carolina: Berkeley County

May6

Berkeley County (pop. 177,843) is South Carolina’s second-largest county in square miles. Parts of Charleston and North Charleston extend into Berkeley County.

Lake Moultrie, in Berkeley County, is South Carolina’s third-largest lake. It was created in the 1940s by the construction of Pinopolis Dam on the Cooper River.

The lake has alligators.

Berkeley County was named for John and William Berkeley, co-owners of the Province of Carolina.

The city in California was named for George Berkeley.

The county seat of Berkeley County is Moncks Corner (pop. 5,952). A major attraction in Moncks Corners is Cypress Gardens, a 170-acre preserve.

Boat tours are given on the former rice reservoir.

Goose Creek (pop. 35,938) is the largest city located entirely within Berkeley County. Naval Support Activity Charleston is in Goose Creek.

Formerly the Naval Weapons Station Charleston

The town of Jamestown (pop. 97) hosts the annual Hell Hole Swamp Festival. The winners of the 10K Gator Run receive alligator head trophies.

There’s also a Miss Hell Hole Swamp contest.

NEXT: WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY

South Carolina: Dorchester County

May3

Dorchester County (pop. 136,555) is north of Charleston County.

It was named for Dorchester County, Massachusetts. Congregationalists from Massachusetts were the first settlers in the area in 1696.

Dorchester is now a neighborhood on the south side of Boston.

The county seat of Dorchester County is St. George (pop. 2,084), which hosts the World Grits Festival in April.

The “Rolling in Grits” Contest

Summerville (pop. 43,382) is the largest city in Dorchester County. Its annual Flowertown Festival is the largest arts and crafts festival in South Carolina.

The festival began in 1941.

Summerville is known as “The Flower Town in the Pines.” It was founded as a summer resort area for rice planters.

Parts of Summerville are in Berkeley and Charleston counties.

Middleton Place is a former rice plantation, across the Ashley River from North Charleston. It opened to the public in the 1920s.

The oldest landscaped garden in the U.S.

The plantation was the historic home of the Middleton family; Henry Middleton (1717-1784) was the first presiding officer of the Continental Congress.

The home was burned during the Civil War and later restored.

NEXT: BERKELEY COUNTY

South Carolina: Charleston County

May1

Charleston County is along the Atlantic coast, east of Colleton County. It’s the largest county in South Carolina in square miles, and the third-largest in population (350,209).

The county seat is Charleston, the oldest (founded in 1670) and second largest (pop. 124,672) city in South Carolina.

It was originally Charles Towne, in honor of King Charles II

The tallest building in Charleston is St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, built in 1872.

255 feet tall

The city is on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers.

Charleston Harbor

The Civil War began in 1861 at Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor.

Now part of Fort Sumter National Monument

Stephen Colbert, host of TV’s “The Colbert Report,” grew up in Charleston.

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1964.

Charleston is the home of The Citadel (The Military College of South Carolina) and the College of Charleston.

One of six “senior military colleges” in the U.S.

The novel “Porgy” by DuBose Heyward (1925) and the opera “Porgy and Bess” (1935) were set in Charleston.

Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Heyward

The adjacent city of North Charleston is North Carolina’s third-largest city, with a population of 101,356. It was the home of the Charleston Naval Shipyard.

Opened in 1901, closed in 1996

Sullivan’s Island, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, was the point of entry for approximately 40 percent of the African slaves who came to British North America.

Folly Beach, on Folly Island, is a popular spot for surfing.

Folly Beach pier

NEXT: DORCHESTER COUNTY

South Carolina: Colleton County

Apr29

Colleton County (pop. 38,892), east of Hampton County, is the fourth-largest county (in square miles) in South Carolina.

The only Colleton County in the U.S., it was named for Sir John Colleton – one of the eight “Lords Pr0prietors” who were granted the land called Carolina by King Charles II of England.

They introduced the cultivation of rice to the area.

The 35-acre Colleton State Park has access to the Edisto River.

One of the state’s smallest state parks

The county seat of Colleton County is Walterboro (pop. 5,398), which was founded in 1783 as a hilly summer retreat for local planters.

Courthouse, built in 1820 in Greek Revival style

Walterboro hosts the Colleton County Rice Festival every April.

Although most of Edisto Island is in Charleston County, the town of Edisto Beach (pop. 691) is in Colleton County.

“The Greatest Beach on the Planet”

The town of Cottageville (pop. 707) has the Bee City Honeybee Farm & Petting Zoo & Nature Center.

Colleton County has an unincorporated community called Round O. It has two churches and a post office.

NEXT: CHARLESTON COUNTY

South Carolina: Hampton County

Apr26

Hampton County (pop. 21,090) is just north of Jasper County. It’s the only Hampton County in the U.S.

The county was named for Wade Hampton III, a Civil War general and later governor of South Carolina and U.S. senator.

In “Gone With the Wind,” Charles Hamilton served in Hampton’s regiment.

The county seat is the city of Hampton (pop. 2,808), the state’s third-smallest county seat.

Hampton County Courthouse

The Palmetto Theater (1925) in Hampton now has a variety of plays, concerts, and other events.

Remodeled in 1993

Lake Warren State Park is about four miles from Hampton.

There’s a 440-acre lake.

The Hampton County Watermelon Festival calls itself South Carolina’s longest-running continuing festival.

It began in 1943.

In Brunson (pop. 554), the old Town Hall, built in 1906, was mentioned in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!” as “The World’s Only Octagonal Town Hall Built on Stilts.” The stilts were later removed.

A model (with stilts) adjacent to the actual Town Hall

NEXT: COLLETON COUNTY

South Carolina: Jasper County

Apr24

Jasper County (pop. 24,777), the southernmost county in South Carolina, is adjacent to Georgia and just a few miles from Savannah.

It’s one of eight Jasper counties in the U.S., all named for Revolutionary War hero Sgt. William Jasper, a German immigrant and South Carolinian.

He died in the Siege of Savannah in 1779.

The county seat of Jasper County is Ridgeland (pop. 4,036).

Church of the Holy Trinity, Ridgeland (1858)

Jasper County has had the same courthouse since the county was created in 1912.

In the Colonial Revival style

The town of Hardeeville (pop. 2,952), close to the Georgia border, had its population grow by 65% from 2000 to 2010.

LIfe-size elephants outside Papa Joe’s Fireworks

The county’s pre-Civil War churches include the Gillisonville Baptist Church (1838).

Greek Revival style

NEXT: HAMPTON COUNTY

South Carolina: Beaufort County

Apr21

We begin our tour of South Carolina’s 46 counties in fast-growing Beaufort County, near the southern tip of the state.

This is the route we’ll be taking.

In 1980, Beaufort County’s population was just 65,364. In 2010, it was 162,233.

New homes on Hilton Head Island, the county’s largest resort area

The northern and southern parts of Beaufort County are connected only by the 1.7-mile Broad River Bridge on South Carolina Highway 170.

The Broad River is actually a tidal channel.

Beaufort County is composed primarily of islands – part of the Sea Islands along the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Hunting Island, South Carolina’s most popular state park

The county seat of Beaufort County is the city of Beaufort (pop. 12,361), located mainly on Port Royal Island. South Carolina’s Beaufort is pronounced “BYOO-fert.” North Carolina’s Beaufort is pronounced “BOH-fert.”

There’s also a Beaufort County in Western Australia.

Boxer Joe Frazier (1944-2011) grew up in Beaufort.

Heavyweight champion, 1970-73

Beaufort is the home of the Kazoo Museum, located within the Kazoobie Kazoos Factory.

The museum was previously in Seattle.

Beaufort has a strong military presence, with the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and the nearby Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.

The 1979 movie was filmed in Beaufort.

Author Pat Conroy based the main character of “The Great Santini” on his father, a Marine pilot; Conroy’s “The Water is Wide” was about his time teaching on Daufuskie Island in the 1960s.

Young Pat Conroy and students

Saint Helena Island has traditionally been a center of African-American Gullah culture, dating from the early days of slavery in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

The uninhabited (by humans) Morgan Island has been the home of a free-ranging colony of rhesus monkeys since 1979.

About 4,000 of them

NEXT: JASPER COUNTY

Every County