Historical Markers and War Memorials in Lancaster County, South Carolina
Lancaster is the county seat for Lancaster County
Adjacent to Lancaster County, South Carolina
Chester County(42) ► Chesterfield County(19) ► Fairfield County(34) ► Kershaw County(108) ► York County(147) ► Mecklenburg County, North Carolina(143) ► Union County, North Carolina(25) ►
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The Story of the Waxhaws Immediately after the engagement, reports spread that many were stabbed and killed as they tried to surrender. Many were taken to a local Presbyterian church where local residents cared for them, including a young Andrew . . . — — Map (db m95555) HM
[Front]
In order that all may continue to share the sentiments of that group of patriotic citizens of Lancaster County who erected a monument here on June 2, 1860 the inscriptions of this memorial are the same as those on the original . . . — — Map (db m23888) HM
Col. Buford's 11th Virginia Regiment and a detachment of Washington's Cavalry, retreating after the fall of Charles Town, were attacked by Col. Tarelton, May 29, 1780, at the site of the monument 955 feet southwest. The American loss was 113 killed, . . . — — Map (db m44911) HM
Tarleton's Ploy After leaving General Cornwallis' army on May 27, Tarleton drove his men and horses relentlessly, covering 105 miles in 54 hours. He sent a messenger ahead with a surrender demand. Colonel Buford refused. Tarleton's ploy delayed . . . — — Map (db m95554) HM
On this site, Col. Abraham Buford's force of about 350 American patriots, while returning to Hillsborough, N.C., following the fall of Charles Town, were overtaken by British troops commanded by Col. Banastre Tarelton, it is historically told that . . . — — Map (db m23890) HM
A Declaration After years of tension over taxation and trade, the America colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. The British Government was determined not to let the colonies go without a fight. The Fight for . . . — — Map (db m95553) HM
[Marker Front]:
The Revolution in the Backcountry
After British forces took Charleston in May 1780, they set up outposts in the backcountry and attempted to control the state by encouraging Loyalists. Backcountry Patriots organized a . . . — — Map (db m23786) HM
[Front]:
This church, organized in 1798 by Bishop Francis Asbury, held its first services in a log meeting house. On July 10, 1798, Middleton McDonald donated the meeting house and ten acres to church trustees Gideon Glaze, John Graham, . . . — — Map (db m23916) HM
About 2.5 miles south is Hanging Rock, where Maj. Davie surprised a British force, Aug. 1, 1780, and killed or wounded most of them. There also, Aug. 6, 1780, Col. Hill, Col. Irwin, and Maj. Davie, all under Gen. Sumter, successfully attacked the . . . — — Map (db m145667) HM
About 1¾ miles west of this spot stood the house in which Dr. James Marion Sims was born on January 25, 1813. Father of modern gynecology, Dr. Sims was honored by the American and by European governments for his service to suffering women, empress . . . — — Map (db m23891) HM
James Marion Sims, World Famed Physician, Father of modern gynaecol'ogy A blessing and a benefactor to women was born in the farm house of his parents near this site January 25, 1813 Doctor to empress and slave alike founder of women's hospital . . . — — Map (db m51638) HM
While on his Southern tour, President George Washington spent the night of May 26, 1791, at the James Ingram house, near here. According to Washington's diary, he left Ingram's at four o'clock the next morning and continued his journey northward, . . . — — Map (db m23892) HM
According to local tradition, this African Methodist Episcopal Zion Campground was established c.1870. Instrumental in organizing the campground was former slave Isom Caleb Clinton, who was ordained Bishop of the church in 1892. Through the years . . . — — Map (db m23915) HM
Here was fought the Battle of the Hanging Rock August 6, 1780 About 600 Militia of the Carolinas under Colonel Thomas Sumter destroyed the British Camp and killed and wounded over 200 of the British Troops under Major John Carden with a . . . — — Map (db m53400) HM
American forces under Major William R. Davie had captured a British convoy July 21, 1780, and were retreating with prisoners mounted two to the horse when ambushed by British several miles west of here on Beaver Creek. Nearly all the British . . . — — Map (db m23913) HM
(Front)
In 1827 Benjamin Haile (1768-1842) found gold here while panning in the streams on his plantation. After he found gold ore as well, Haile set up a mining operation. By 1837 the Haile Gold Mine included a 5-stamp mill, with steel . . . — — Map (db m197441) HM
Marker Front:
Kershaw, originally Welsh’s Station, was founded in 1888 when Capt. James V. Welsh (1845-1906) persuaded the Charleston, Cincinnati, & Chicago Railroad to build a depot halfway between Camden and Lancaster, on what was then . . . — — Map (db m23894) HM
This building, originally just south of Kershaw on what is now U.S. Hwy. 521, was built in 1900 for Capt. James V. Welsh (1845-1906) as the office for J.V. Welsh & Sons, a lumber mill. It later housed Kershaw’s first circulating library, founded by . . . — — Map (db m23896) HM
Welsh's Station
Welsh’s Station, a depot on the Charleston, Cincinnati, & Chicago Railroad built in 1888, stood at or near this site. The town of Kershaw was first named for Capt. James V. Welsh, who donated 63 acres on which to establish a . . . — — Map (db m23895) HM
On the morning of May 27, 1791, President George Washington had breakfast near here at Nathan Barr's Tavern, which was located about a mile and a half north of the present Lancaster Courthouse. According to local tradition, Washington paid for . . . — — Map (db m23794) HM
(South Face of Monument)
Erected to the memory and in honor of the brave and patriotic American soldiers who fell in the battle which occurred at this place on the 29th May 1780 between Col. Abraham Buford who commanded a regiment of . . . — — Map (db m71576) HM WM
[Marker Front]:
More than 300 members of Lancaster's black community are buried here, with the first grave dating to 1864. Originally the Clinton family cemetery, it was donated to Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church in 1960 by Dr. John J. Clinton . . . — — Map (db m23835) HM
Scotchmen John Craig, Esq. emigrated with his family from Northern Ireland to the Waxhaws in 1772 and began Craig Farm in 1773. John Craig, Jr. gave the land for Shiloh A.R. Presbyterian Church in 1821. Craig House was built by Nathaniel Craig . . . — — Map (db m94997) HM
[West Side]
Erected to the memory of Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson. Mother of Andrew Jackson seventh President of the United States.
[South Side]
It was her zeal for accomplishment that made handicaps seem to resolve . . . — — Map (db m23792) HM
Franklin Academy
Organized in 1825, was the most widely-known of the four schools that occupied this site. Henry Connelly was its first principal. J. Marion Sims who later achieved world fame as a surgeon was one of its pupils. The building of . . . — — Map (db m23836) HM
This late Federal-style house blending elements of the Greek-revival style with Victorian-era modifications was built by local dentist Joseph Lee between 1826 and 1834. Thought to be the oldest residence in the town of Lancaster, Kilburnie was . . . — — Map (db m23795) HM
[Marker Front]:
Lancaster, founded in 1798, was first called Lancaster Court House and later known as Lancasterville. The seat of Lancaster District from 1800 to 1868, it has been the seat of Lancaster County since then. The town and . . . — — Map (db m23840) HM
[Front]:
The Lancaster & Chester Railway, founded in 1896, was originally the Cheraw & Chester Railroad, chartered in 1873. The C&C, which never finished its route, was sold to Col. Leroy Springs (1861-1931) for $25,000 and renamed the . . . — — Map (db m23841) HM
[East Side]
1861-1865
Worthy, the Confederate soldier to be hallowed and held in tender remembrance Worthy, the fadeless fame which Lancaster's soldiers won in defending the honor of the South, the rights of the States, the liberties . . . — — Map (db m23832) HM
Dedicated to the officers of this county who gave their lives in the line of duty * B. Frank Sowell Lancaster Police 1937 * Walter T. Bell Highway Patrol 1939 * Curtis J Pope Constable 1943 * Coleman B. McAteer Constable 1947 * Roy D Hardin . . . — — Map (db m49360) HM
[Marker Front]:
Located on this site, Lancaster Normal and Industrial Institute for black students was incorporated in 1905; M. D. Lee was president and J. G. McIlwain chairman of the board. By 1912, the school was offering both elementary . . . — — Map (db m23834) HM
This congregation was organized May 5, 1835. Its first minister was James H. Thornwell, who later headed SC College in Columbia. The Gothic Revival building was dedicated 1862 and entered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The . . . — — Map (db m23837) HM
The original part of this house was built by Robert W. Gill soon after he purchased the lot in 1828. About thirty years later, it was enlarged by Samuel B. Massey. Local textile manufacturer and banker Col. Leroy Springs remodeled the house . . . — — Map (db m23839) HM
Early Memorialization
In the decades after the Revolution, the woodland surrounding the battlefield was gradually converted to farm fields and pasture. In 1845, James A. Witherspoon led an effort to raise money for a grave monument and . . . — — Map (db m71573) HM
[Front]:
The Courthouse Lancaster County
Built in 1825-1828. Designed by Robert Mills of Charleston, South Carolina, America's first native born, professionally trained architect, State Civil and Military Engineer and designer of the . . . — — Map (db m28254) HM
[Marker Front]:
The Jail
Lancaster County
Built 1823
This is the "gaol" that Willis W. Alsobrook contracted to build for Lancaster District "…agreeable to the plans and specifications signed by Robert Mills…." In 1868 . . . — — Map (db m23838) HM
Built by Colonel Leroy Springs in 1905 of red brick stretcher and common bond brick, this block has housed many of Lancaster's leading businesses. In 1936, fire destroyed the southern end of the block which included the Hotel Royale and Lancaster . . . — — Map (db m95066) HM
Honoring
Thomas H. Davis
Site where his forty year selection, (1880), of okra led to the nationally known variety of "Clemson Spineless Okra" 1939 — — Map (db m49358) HM
About 3 miles W. is Waxhaw Presbyterian Church, organized 1755, first church in upper South Carolina. President Andrew Jackson, born nearby, was baptized there. His father lies in the churchyard with other early settlers of the Waxhaws and many . . . — — Map (db m23790) HM
[Marker Front]
The first church in upper So. Car. This 4½ acre tract was deeded to the congregation by Robert Miller school teacher and minister, Mar.9, 1758. The first pastor was Rev. Wm. Richardson, 1759-1771. The earliest . . . — — Map (db m121920) HM
This church, organized July 4, 1776 by Rev. George Pope, a native of Virginia, held its first meetings in a brush arbor on this site and was known as the Upper Fork of Lynches Creek until it was renamed Flat Creek Baptist Church in 1881. The first . . . — — Map (db m23911) HM
Originally called Russell Place for the Irish immigrant William Russell who settled near here on a branch of Beaver Creek in 1768. General William Tecumseh Sherman passed through Russell Place in 1865 on his way to North Carolina. In 1871 James . . . — — Map (db m51641) HM
Andrew Jackson, 7th president of the United States, grew up on this site during the American Revolution.
His Scotch-Irish Presbyterian upbringing in this Waxhaws backcountry settlement helped shape his character, his military success and his . . . — — Map (db m95423) HM
Seventh President of the United States. Near this site on South Carolina soil Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, at the plantation whereon James Crawford lived and where Jackson himself said he was born. — — Map (db m23765) HM
Seventh President of the United States. Near this site on South Carolina soil Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, at the plantation whereon James Crawford lived and where Jackson himself said he was born. — — Map (db m24035) HM
[Carving Side]
"I was born in So Carolina, as I have been told, at the plantation whereon James Crawford lived about one mile from the Carolina Road X of the Waxhaw Creek" Andrew Jackson to J.H. Witherspoon, August 11, 1824.
Jackson . . . — — Map (db m23781) HM
One of the last refinements in the N.C.-S.C. boundary was marked with a stone inscribed "1813" and located about ½ mile SE of here. This adjustment was made because of uncertainty in location of the Salisbury Road which had served as . . . — — Map (db m23789) HM
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians called their worship places Meeting Houses to emphasize that the structure is a building and that the church is the body of believers. The community came to the Meeting House not only to worship, but also for recreation, . . . — — Map (db m23768) HM
Andrew Jackson, champion of the common, is a larger-than-life hero. He has been memorialized throughout American history. The idea of commemorating Jackson with a statue in the land of his birth was conceived by Perry Belle Hough of the Lancaster . . . — — Map (db m23775) HM
On the Catawba Path near here King Hagler, Chief of the Catawba Nation (1750-1763), was slain on August 30, 1763, by a raiding band of northern Indian braves as he journeyed from the Waxhaws Settlement on Cane Creek to a Catawba town on Twelve Mile . . . — — Map (db m23761) HM
Near this site was the home of Major Robert Crawford, where President George Washington spent his last night in South Carolina on his Southern tour, May 27, 1791. Here Washington was met by a delegation of the Chiefs of the Catawba Nation, who set . . . — — Map (db m23763) HM
When Andrew Jackson was a boy, he attended log-cabin schools much like this replica.
In this backcountry region of devout, hard working Scotch-Irish immigrants, most children learned enough at local "common" schools to read the Bible and run . . . — — Map (db m23771) HM
Governor of South Carolina from 1828 until 1830, Miller was born near here May 8, 1787, the son of Charles and Margaret White Miller. He served in the US House of Representatives (1822-1828), and US Senate (1831-1833). He died March 8, 1838 in . . . — — Map (db m23785) HM
This statue of the young Andrew Jackson is a gift to the children of South Carolina by the sculptor, Anna Hyatt Huntington. Children of the elementary schools throughout the state contributed their nickel and dimes for the base.
"We, the . . . — — Map (db m23779) HM
Andrew Jackson State Park honors the memory of the seventh president of the United States, who spent his boyhood here in the Waxhaws area. A museum tells the story of Jackson's experiences and life in the South Carolina backcountry from his birth . . . — — Map (db m95428) HM
This 360-acre park was established to honor the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson.
The museum tells the story of Jackson's boyhood experiences during the Revolutionary War and highlights life in the South Carolina . . . — — Map (db m95425) HM
