The Town Hall in Cheraw, built in 1858 and photographed here in 1890, is still used as a meeting place for the Masons (who helped pay for it) and for city offices. County seat of Chesterfield County, the town name came from a tribe of Native Americans who lived in the district prior to its white settlement by Welsh Baptists who migrated from Pennsylvania in 1736. The town was laid out in 1768 when South Carolina was divided into seven judicial districts and it became the court center for the Old Cheraw District. Officially named Cheraw in 1821, the town grew rapidly then as a result of the Great Pee Dee River being opened to navigation as far as Cheraw. The last navigable stop on the river, Cheraw became a trading center for the corn, tobacco, rice and indigo grown in the rich agricultural lands of the district.
Courtesy of the Cheraw Visitors Bureau.
