Lexington County lies in the Midlands region of South Carolina. Both the county and its seat were named after the Revolutionary War’s first battle, the battle of Lexington. This name is fitting seeing as a number of Revolutionary War battles were fought in the county.
First known as the Saxe Gotha township in 1733, the area acquired its current name in 1785. However, from 1791 to 1804 the county was added to Orangeburg District before becoming its own county again. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the county became smaller as lands belonging to this county were used to create Aiken and Calhoun counties.
The British were the first Europeans to settle in the area. This group created a trading post, later known as Granby, on the Congaree River. In the 18th century, a large number of Swiss, German, and Scotch-Irish immigrants came to the area and began small farms. Many of these small farms became submerged when Lake Murray was made from the Saluda River. However, the economy’s reliance on agriculture created by these small farms continues today. Various types of manufacturing as well as steel processing have also become popular means of income in the county.
Home. Accessed June 09, 2016. http://www.lex-co.sc.gov
Industry Data. Accessed June 09, 2016. http://www.lexingtoncountyusa.com/workforce/workforce_data/industry_data/
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Continuing down the trail, Rudy and Jim find a Black Gum tree, whose leaves are among the earliest to change color in the fall. Blackjack Oak is tree which grows well in poor soils. They come across...
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At the same stop, a Canebrake Rattlesnake is found resting up in a tree; a most unusual place to find a rattlesnake!
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Peachtree Rock is the edge of the old ocean, located just twenty miles west of Columbia, S.C. This area is part of the “Sandhills” part of the southeastern United States. Fall Line Sandhills- at this...
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Rudy and Jim find some Bracken fern, which is a common species of nonflowering plant in the area. And close by, they find a feeding Funnel spider, and a Black Widow spider.
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The document includes transcripts for John Derrick's audio.
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The Godfrey Harmon House, built in Lexington around 1870 by the founder of the Lexington "Dispatch," burned in 1894. The square columns are an interesting adaptation of a vernacular Greek Revival...
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The Main Street of Lexington, sometime before a devastating fire in 1916 burned many of the business district buildings seen here. The county seat of Lexington County, the area was first settled by...
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This view of Columbia from across the Congaree River appeared in the New York "Illustrated News" on January 5, 1861. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
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Map of Taylor's Farm, or the original survey plat of Columbia. Before the Revolution, the newly established settlements in the Upcountry of South Carolina did not have much voice in the government of...
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Granite Street in Batesburg, around 1913. Batesburg and nearby Leesville, both in Lexington County, were named after the families on whose plantations they developed. After the 1890s, the railroads...