Ridgeville in Dorchester County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Ridgeville

Photographed by Dean Moss McCracken, May 9, 2016

1. Ridgeville Marker

Inscription. (side 1)
This town, in Colleton County before Dorchester County was founded in 1897, dates from 1831. It was one of the first stations on the S.C. Rail Road from Charleston to Hamburg. This area was called Ridgeville as early as 1820, for its location on a ridge between Four Holes Swamp and Cypress Swamp. From the 1840s to the Civil War Ridgeville was a popular destination for "pleasure parties," day trips up from Charleston and back on the S.C. Rail Road. (Continued on other side) (side 2) (Continued from other side) Town lots were laid out and sold here in 1849, and the town became a planters' summer retreat and a center of trade. One antebellum visitor called Ridgeville "a very pleasant, healthy village" and its citizens "industrious, prosperous and hospitable." It was incorporated in 1875, with its limits a half-mile radius from the depot. The town was centered along Railroad Ave. and Main St. The timber and turpentine industries here flourished into the 20th century.

Erected 2013 by The Upper Dorchester County Historical Society. (Marker Number 18-20.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars

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• Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 33° 5.73′ N, 80° 18.921′ W. Marker is in Ridgeville, South Carolina, in Dorchester County. It is at the intersection of South Railroad Avenue and South Main Street, on the left when traveling east on South Railroad Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ridgeville SC 29472, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Lowcountry.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Cypress Methodist Camp Ground (approx. 2½ miles away); Berkeley County (approx. 2.7 miles away); Moorefield Memorial Highway, (Southern Terminus) (approx. 3.8 miles away); Revolutionary War Cannon (approx. 3.9 miles away); Four Holes Swamp (approx. 3.9 miles away); Four Holes Swamp Bridge / Harley's Tavern (approx. 3.9 miles away); Dorchester (approx. 5½ miles away); Murray United Methodist Church (approx. 5.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ridgeville.

Photographed by Dean Moss McCracken, May 9, 2016

2. Ridgeville Marker

Photographed by Dean Moss McCracken, February 19, 2016

3. Ridgeville Marker

Looking east on S. Railroad Ave.

Photographed by Dean Moss McCracken, February 19, 2016

4. Ridgeville Marker

Looking west on S. Railroad Ave.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 11, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 9, 2016, by Dean Moss McCracken of Lakeland, Florida. This page has been viewed 2,326 times since then and 86 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on May 9, 2016, by Dean Moss McCracken of Lakeland, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.