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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Main Street, Columbia, as it appeared at night with its electric street lights in 1910. Courtesy of the Howard G. Woody Postcard Collection.
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This small engraving showing a faded sketch of the "Old Market and Court House, 1836" was probably copied from an earlier sketch of Camden as it appeared around 1820. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana...
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Aerial view of Darlington, July 1965, shows the new courthouse standing alone and the empty space formerly occupied by City Hall. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.
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The Greenville curbside market, photographed in 1922. Courtesy of the Greenville County Historical Society.
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The ruins of the Circular Congregational Church, photographed in 1865, show the devastation that fire and war brought on the city of Charleston. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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This view of the Congaree River and the Columbia Canal was drawn by the artist A. Grivevald in 1859. Courtesy of the Columbia Museum of Art.
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Aerial view of the Darlington International Raceway around 1985. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.
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The Columbia skyline as seen from across the Gervais Street Bridge in 1952. (Compare with The Congaree River Bridge, 1910) Courtesy of Mary Taylor.
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The promenade on the East Battery, Charleston, in 1910. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
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The Southern 500 inspires a weeklong festival of parades and other events. In this 1957 beauty contest, contestant #21 was declared the winner. Courtesy of the Darlington County Historical Commission.
