South Carolina

Sassafras Mountain

South Carolina runs from sea level (Atlantic Ocean) to 3,560’ (Sassafras Mountain).

South Carolina is 6% water.

In 1729, the Carolina territory split and became North Carolina and South Carolina.

In the mid-1700’s, Charleston had 10,000 residents and was the largest city in the southern colonies.

During the Revolutionary War, 137 battles were fought in S.C. – more than in any other state.

In 1832, S.C. passed Act of Nullification, saying tariff laws didn’t have to be obeyed because, according to John C. Calhoun, the U.S. violated the contract with the states by passing those laws. Pres. Andrew Jackson (a S.C. native) said phooey; Congress lowered the tariffs, but the issue divided the country.

Dec. 20, 1860, S.C. seceded, the 1st state to do so. It reentered the Union in 1868.

S.C. didn’t ratify the 19th Amendment (women’s right to vote) until 1969.

S.C. is the only state to own and operate its own fleet of school buses.

S.C. is the only state with mandatory videotaping of DUI arrests and breath tests.

S.C. has the highest rate of strokes in the U.S.

Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens has the world’s largest collection of outdoor sculpture. Middleton Place, near Charleston, has the oldest landscaped gardens in the U.S.

Drayton Hall, an example of Georgian Palladian architecture built in 1738,

Drayton Hall

survived the Revolutionary War, the Civil War (because the owner told Union troops it was being used as a hospital for smallpox victims), the 1886 earthquake, and Hurricane Hugo.

The Francis Beidler Forest near Harleyville, NW of Charleston, has the largest remaining stand of virgin bald cypress and tupelo gum trees in the world.

Palmetto

The state tree is the Palmetto, which is a spongy wood – a log fort on Sullivan’s Island withstood an attack by British ships because the cannon balls bounced off the Palmetto walls.

S.C. has an official state beverage (milk) and an official state hospitality beverage (iced tea).