Midstate Counties

Learn about significant places in midstate South Carolina.

Learn about significant places in the following mid-state counties: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter.

Aiken County - Schofield School

Photo

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Martha Schofield was a young Quaker woman from Pennsylvania who wanted to do something to help newly freed African Americans after the Civil War. With her life savings of $468, she went to St. Helena...

Bamberg County - Voorhees College

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The present Voorhees College campus and buildings date from 1905 to the mid-1930s, and is itself a pioneer in higher education for African Americans in the area. Founder Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, a...

Chesterfield County - Dizzy Gillespie Park

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie got his nickname because he liked to make jokes and act up on stage. He was one of the greatest of all jazz musicians, and the most famous native of Cheraw, South Carolina...

Clarendon County - Summerton High School

Photo

Grades: 5 8 11

The building that housed Summerton High School from circa 1936 to the mid-1960s is located at 12 South Church Street in Summerton. In the middle of the twentieth century, the all-white high school was...

Darlington County - Butler School

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Butler School served Hartsville's black community for over sixty years. Many prominent African Americans graduated from Butler, including Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Cornell A. Wilson Jr.; Dr. Gerald A...

Kershaw County - Boylan-Haven Mather Academy

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Mather Academy was founded in 1887 by the New England Southern Conference of the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. Mather Academy educated black girls, and later boys, in grades...

Lancaster County - Mt. Carmel Campground

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Organized by former slaves and members of the Mt. Carmel AME Zion Church, this campground has always been an interdenominational gathering place that combines religious services with fellowship. An...

Lee County - Dennis High School

Photo

Grades: 5 8 11

Constructed in 1936, Dennis was the first high school for African Americans in Lee County, including Bishopville and nearby rural areas. In contrast with the much larger Bishopville High School, which...

Orangeburg County - All Star Bowling Lanes

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ordered all public places and schools to desegregate and serve blacks and whites equally. For four years, from 1964 to 1968, Orangeburg's All Star Bowling Lanes refused to...

Orangeburg County - Claflin University

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Claflin College, founded in 1869 as Claflin University, is the oldest historically black college in S.C. and was established to "advance the cause of education, and maintain a first-class institution...

Orangeburg County - South Carolina State University

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

South Carolina State University was founded in 1896 as the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, & Mechanical College of S.C., with its origins in the Morrill Land Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890...

Richland County - Allen University | Road Trip

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8

Allen University, which was founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was named in honor of Richard Allen, founder of the denomination. Established four years after the University of...

Richland County - Benedict College | Road Trip

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8

Benedict Institute was founded in 1870 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to provide education for freedmen and their children. The school was named for Stephen Benedict, an abolitionist...

Richland County - Bethel AME Church | Road Trip

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8

The congregation of Bethel A.M.E. Church organized in 1866 and moved several times before constructing this church on Sumter Street in 1921. During the 1960s, Bethel A.M.E. served as a location for...

Richland County - Carver Theatre | Road Trip

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

During the days of Jim Crow segregation, the Theatre provided entertainment to African Americans, including movies, weekly talent shows, and special shows on Saturday mornings for children. Carver...

Richland County - Kress Building | Road Trip

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8

This building, constructed around 1935, housed a Kress "five and dime" store with a lunch counter that served whites only. It was one of eight places in Columbia that saw student protests and sit-ins...

Sumter County - Goodwill Parochial School

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The school building, built circa 1890, is significant as a scarce and relatively intact example of late nineteenth-century vernacular architecture associated with the African American community and...