This program focuses on the history of Florence, S.C., which originally began as a railroad junction. During the Civil War, a Confederate stockade was located there, and a gunboat built in Florence patrolled the Great Pee Dee River. Today, Florence is an important regional hub, with leading medical facilities, educational institutions, and growing industry.
Closed captioning has been provided for this broadcast program.
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In the late 1840s, construction began on the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, which would connect the port of Wilmington with the cotton fields of the Pee Dee. This would be an economic boon for...
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After the Civil War, Florence made a quick transition. Damaged rails were repaired, fields were planted, businesses reopened, and the population increased. Many refugees fled to Florence from...
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By the turn of the century, Florence was prospering. The train yard was active, and a new crop, tobacco, bolstered the economy. Florence became known as the Magic City. Learn how the Florence Museum...
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Many returning to Florence after World War II saw clearly, possibly for the first time, a great injustice in their own community...segregation. Brown versus Board of Education" changed race relations...
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In the midst of these dramatic social changes, an economic transformation was taking place. It was after the days of World War II, after 1945, when Florence really burst into the New South. In the...