Almost all of the images in this collection document a particular South Carolina place at a specific time in its history. This section, organized alphabetically is not intended, therefore, as a comprehensive list of every South Carolina community. It is actually a fairly impressionistic look at the county seats and rural villages, as well as the cities, in which South Carolinians live and work. For several towns and cities (Beaufort, Camden, Charleston, Columbia, Darlington, Georgetown, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Sumter), an effort has been made to select several images that show how that place has changed over time. Other places were chosen for special features that have made that town unique; still others have been chosen because they illustrate the features that many towns in the state have shared.
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The African-American nursemaids, in this postcard view of Senate Street around 1910, push their young charges in baby buggies past elegant Victorian mansions of the Columbia well-to-do. The red brick...
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King Street in Charleston, looking north around 1925. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
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Stock car races at the Darlington International Raceway attract 50,000 to 75,000 fans annually. This van of spectators came for a Southern 500 in the late 1970s. Courtesy of the Darlington County...
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The Congaree River Bridge carries Gervais Street across the river to Lexington County. This panorama of Columbia looking east from the bridge shows the development of the capitol city around 1910...
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The Custom House of Charleston, viewed from the harbor in 1899. Begun in 1850 with Federal funds, intended as the crowning glory of Charleston's antebellum civic architecture, the classical revival...
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Darlington International Raceway, built in 1950, was the first stock car speedway of its kind. The 1.36 mile facility is located 2 miles west of Darlington, on state highways 34 and 151. The Pepsi...
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King Street, looking south in this 1916 postcard view, proudly displays electric street lights. Courtesy of the Howard G. Woody Postcard Collection.
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President William Howard Taft visited Columbia in 1910. This post card view from the State House grounds during the Taft visit shows an extensive vista up Main Street as well. The building on the left...
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Main Street, Columbia, looking south, around 1930. The white Palmetto Building, constructed in 1912-1913, dwarfs the Berringer building behind it as one looks toward the State House. Courtesy of the...
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St. Andrew's Parish on James Island was one of the early suburban development sites for an expanding 20th century Charleston. The new Ashley River Bridge, completed in 1926, led investors to lay out...
