Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown, South Carolina | ||
---|---|---|
FIPS code 45-28870[3] | | |
GNIS feature ID | 1247888[4] | |
Website | cityofgeorgetownsc |
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the
Beginning in the colonial era, Georgetown was the commercial center of an indigo- and rice-producing area. Rice replaced indigo as the chief commodity crop in the antebellum area. Later the timber industry became important here. [citation needed]
Geography
Georgetown is located at 33°22′3″N 79°17′38″W / 33.36750°N 79.29389°W (33.367434, −79.293807).[7]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.5 square miles (19.5 km2), of which 6.9 square miles (17.9 km2) are land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), or 8.06%, is water.[6]
Winyah Bay formed from a submergent or drowned coastline. The original rivers had a lower baseline, but either the ocean rose or the land sank, flooding the river valleys and making a good location for a harbor.
U.S. Routes
Climate data for Georgetown, South Carolina (Georgetown County Airport) (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 58.6 (14.8) |
61.5 (16.4) |
67.5 (19.7) |
76.2 (24.6) |
82.4 (28.0) |
88.0 (31.1) |
91.1 (32.8) |
90.0 (32.2) |
85.7 (29.8) |
77.6 (25.3) |
68.1 (20.1) |
60.4 (15.8) |
75.6 (24.2) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 47.8 (8.8) |
50.2 (10.1) |
55.8 (13.2) |
64.4 (18.0) |
71.8 (22.1) |
78.3 (25.7) |
81.8 (27.7) |
81.1 (27.3) |
76.4 (24.7) |
66.6 (19.2) |
56.5 (13.6) |
50.1 (10.1) |
65.1 (18.4) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 37.0 (2.8) |
38.8 (3.8) |
44.0 (6.7) |
52.7 (11.5) |
61.1 (16.2) |
68.7 (20.4) |
72.5 (22.5) |
72.1 (22.3) |
67.2 (19.6) |
55.7 (13.2) |
44.8 (7.1) |
39.8 (4.3) |
54.5 (12.5) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.55 (90) |
3.55 (90) |
3.62 (92) |
3.35 (85) |
3.37 (86) |
5.43 (138) |
7.09 (180) |
6.94 (176) |
6.49 (165) |
5.00 (127) |
3.11 (79) |
3.93 (100) |
55.43 (1,408) |
Source: NOAA[8][9] |
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 1,628 | — | |
1860 | 1,720 | 5.7% | |
1870 | 2,080 | 20.9% | |
1880 | 2,557 | 22.9% | |
1890 | 2,895 | 13.2% | |
1900 | 4,138 | 42.9% | |
1910 | 5,530 | 33.6% | |
1920 | 4,579 | −17.2% | |
1930 | 5,082 | 11.0% | |
1940 | 5,559 | 9.4% | |
1950 | 6,004 | 8.0% | |
1960 | 12,261 | 104.2% | |
1970 | 10,449 | −14.8% | |
1980 | 10,144 | −2.9% | |
1990 | 9,517 | −6.2% | |
2000 | 8,950 | −6.0% | |
2010 | 9,163 | 2.4% | |
2020 | 8,403 | −8.3% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[10][2] |
2020 census
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic)
|
3,387 | 40.31% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|
4,342 | 51.67% |
Native American
|
9 | 0.11% |
Asian
|
57 | 0.68% |
Pacific Islander
|
8 | 0.1% |
Other/Mixed
|
191 | 2.27% |
Latino
|
409 | 4.87% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,403 people, 3,649 households, and 2,256 families residing in the city.
2010 and 2000 censuses
As of the
There were 3,411 households, out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 25.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,424, and the median income for a family was $34,747. Males had a median income of $27,545 versus $19,000 for females. The
History
Pre-Revolution
In 1526 a
The next settlement in the area was made by English colonists. After settling Charles Town in 1670, the English established trade with regional Indian tribes. Trading posts in outlying areas quickly developed as settlements.
By 1721 the colonial government granted the English residents' petition to found a new parish, Prince George, Winyah, on the Black River. In 1734, Prince George, Winyah was divided; and the newly created Prince Frederick Parish congregation occupied the church at Black River. Prince George Parish, Winyah encompassed the new town of Georgetown that was developing on the Sampit River.
In 1729, Elisha Screven laid the plan for Georgetown and developed the city in a four-by-eight block grid. The original grid city is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. It bears the original street names, lot numbers, and has many original homes.
Soon after Georgetown was established, the Indian trade declined. Many traders made longer trips to the interior of the upper rivers, for instance to Cherokee Country. In the Lowcountry, plantation owners developed large plantations and cultivated indigo as the cash commodity crop, with rice as a secondary crop. Both were labor-intensive and dependent on enslaved Africans and African Americans, the former imported from Africa in the Atlantic slave trade.[12][citation needed] Agricultural profits were so great between 1735 and 1775 that in 1757 the Winyah Indigo Society, whose members paid dues in indigo, opened and maintained the first public school for white children between Charles Town and Wilmington. By the early 19th century, rice replaced indigo as the chief commodity crop. It became a staple of regional diets as well, becoming characteristic in the area.
In the
Antebellum period
Georgetown had a large population of Jewish-Americans in the early 1800s.[13][14] Following the American Revolution, rice surpassed indigo as the staple crop. It was cultivated in the swampy lowlands along the rivers, where enslaved African and African-American laborers built large earthworks: dams, gates and canals to irrigate and drain the rice fields during cultivation. Large rice plantations were established around Georgetown along its five rivers. Planters often had chosen to import slaves from rice-growing regions of West Africa, as they knew the technology for cultivation and processing.
By 1840, the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the United States. It became the largest rice-exporting port in the world. Wealth from the rice created an elite European-American planter class; they built stately plantation manor houses and often also had townhouses in the city, bought elegant furniture and other furnishings, and extended generous hospitality to others of their class. Their relatively leisured lifestyle for a select few, built on the labor of thousands of slaves, was disrupted by the Civil War. Afterward the abolition of slavery and transformation to a free labor market in the South so changed the economics of rice production as to make the labor-intensive process unprofitable. The soft silt soil of the South Carolina low country required harvesting rice by hand. In addition, the disruption and destruction of the war delayed the resumption of agriculture in the South. Nationally, the economy struggled in the 1870s, adding to pressures on agriculture.
In the antebellum years, the profits from Georgetown's rice trade also buoyed the economy of the nearby city and port of Charleston, where a thriving mercantile economy developed. With profits from rice, planters bought products from Charleston artisans: fine furniture, jewelry, and silver, to satisfy their refined tastes. Joshua John Ward was a planter who owned the most slaves in the US – eventually more than 1,000 slaves on several plantations; he lived in a townhouse in Georgetown.
Many of the historic plantation houses are still standing today, including
Georgetown's thriving economy long attracted settlers from elsewhere, including numerous planters and shipowners who migrated from Virginia. These included the Shackelford family, whose migrant ancestor John Shackelford moved to Georgetown in the late eighteenth century after serving in the Virginia forces of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. His descendants became prominent planters, lawyers, judges and businessmen in Georgetown and Charleston.[16]
During the
Additional fortifications were built at Battery White, located south of the town to protect the harbor and Winyah Bay. Construction during 1862-1863 on the cannon emplacement resulted in a well-built and situated set of fortifications which did not see action until 1864 when it was captured by Union Forces.
Reconstruction and post-reconstruction period
Georgetown and Georgetown County suffered terribly during the
Several African Americans from Georgetown represented Georgetown County in the state legislature during the Reconstruction era including
Some
By the time the Reconstruction period ended, the area's economy was shifting to harvesting and processing wood products. By 1900 several lumber mills were operating on the Sampit River. The largest was the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company; its mill in Georgetown was the largest lumber mill on the East Coast at the time.
In 1900, a Georgetown constable's efforts to arrest barber John Brownfield for refusing to pay a poll tax resulted in a scuffle and his death in a shooting.[21] White supremacists called for lynching and a tense period followed including appeals of Brownfield's murder conviction by an all-white jury with ties to the deceased and his family.[22]
20th century
Around 1905, "Georgetown reached its peak as a lumber port", according to the historian Mac McAlister.[23] Jim Crow laws excluded African Americans from taking part in elections and from holding office.[24]
As the twentieth century dawned, Georgetown under the leadership of Mayor William Doyle Morgan began to modernize. The city added electricity, telephone service, sewer facilities, rail connections, some paved streets and sidewalks, new banks, a thriving port, and a new public school for white students. Public schools were segregated and black schools were historically underfunded. The US government built a handsome combination post office and customs house.[citation needed]
Like most cities, Georgetown suffered economic deprivation during the Great Depression. The Atlantic Coast Lumber Company went bankrupt early in the depression, putting almost everyone out of work. Businesses related to the mills also lost revenues and had to lay off employees, with a cascading effect through the city. In 1936 help arrived, when the Southern Kraft Division of International Paper opened a mill; by 1944 it was the largest in the world.[citation needed]
From the mid-20th century, the city developed more industry. In 1973, the Korf company of Germany founded a steel mill in town.[citation needed] in 1993, the steel mill was financed by Bain Capital and was called Georgetown Steel, which became GST Steel Company with its sister Kansas City Bolt and Nut Company plant in Kansas City, Missouri.[citation needed]
In 1978, Sigma Chemical Company founded its third chemical plant (the other 2 being in Italy) in Georgetown.[25]
In September 1989, a major disaster struck the area with
2000 to present
In recent years, the economy has become more diversified. The GST Steel Company declared bankruptcy in 2001, first closing the Kansas City plant. In 2003 it closed the South Carolina plant. The Georgetown plant has subsequently reopened under ownership of ArcelorMittal. Due to the influx of cheap foreign steel into the United States, the plant closed its doors again in August 2015.[26][27][28][29] On May 19, 2017, Mayor Jack Scoville announced that ArcelorMittal had agreed to sell the mill to Liberty Steel.[30]
On September 25, 2013, a fire engulfed seven historic buildings on 700 Block of Front Street. The fire raged for hours while over 200 firefighters from ten departments and the United States Coast Guard fought to contain the blaze.[31]
Heritage tourism has become a booming business in Georgetown, supporting much retail activity. In addition, many retirees have chosen to settle in this area of beaches, plantations redeveloped as residential communities, and pleasant climate.[citation needed] From 2016 to 2021, housing prices in Georgetown have risen 38 percent.[32]
On January 18, 2018, long-time Democratic City Councilman Brendon Moses Barber, Sr. was inaugurated as Mayor of Georgetown; he is the first African-American mayor of the city. The City of Georgetown has always elected Democratic mayors, even as the make-up of the major parties has realigned since the late 20th century.[citation needed]
As of 2019, brackish water incursions into the Waccamaw River near Georgetown due to rising sea levels are increasing the risk of exposure to toxic vibrio bacteria.[33]
In the 2021 municipal elections, Georgetown elected its first Republican-majority city council in its history. In January 3, 2022, city councilwoman Carol Jayroe was sworn in as the Mayor of Georgetown, having defeated incumbent Democratic mayor Brendon Barber. She is the first woman and the first Republican to hold the mayoralty in Georgetown’s history. "Post and Courier". January 4, 2022.
In September 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown.
Registered historic sites
Today, the
Education
Georgetown High School is in Georgetown. Georgetown has a public library, a branch of the Georgetown County Library.[35]
Notable people
- Anna Peyre Dinnies (1807–1886), poet, miscellaneous writer
- Joseph Rainey (1832–1887) born in Georgetown; in 1870, he became the first African-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Georgetown Post Office is named in his honor.
- Jumpy Geathers, football player for the Wichita State Shockers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Denver Broncos. He was a 2× Super Bowl Champion.
- Ruston Kelly, singer-songwriter
References
- ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ a b "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ a b "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Georgetown city, South Carolina". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 8, 2017.[dead link]
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ "NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- ^ "Monthly Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- British Indiasoon eclipsed the production of indigo in the Carolinas, and rice took its place as the chief commodity crop.
- ^ The Jews of South Carolina: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day By Barnett Abraham Elzas, pg. 242-244
- ^ A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life By McKissick Museum pg. 51-53
- ^ "J.R. Smith Residence". www.gcdigital.org.
- ^ Yates Snowden, Harry Gardner Cutler, History of South Carolina, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1920
- ^ Payette, Peter. "South Carolina Forts". Retrieved 8 Mar 2016.
- ^ Proctor, Victoria. "Marlboro County, SC in the War Between the States", SciWay. Retrieved 8 Mar 2016.
- ^ Thomas, J.A.W. A History of Marlboro County, South Carolina. Atlanta, Georgia: 1897. Reprint sponsored by the Marlborough Historical Society; Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc., 1989.
- ISBN 9781570034947.
- ISBN 9780820350998.
- ^ "Trial and Error: The Case of John Brownfield and Race Relations in Geo".
- ^ Palisin, Steve (October 14, 2012). "Wooden Boat Show sails into Georgetown". The Sun News. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ISBN 9780820350998.
- ^ "Part of 3V Group - 3V Sigma". www.3vsigma.com. n.d. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ Helling, Dave (January 6, 2012). "Bain Capital tied to bankruptcy, closing of KC steel plant". KansasCity.com. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ David Wren. "Romney's Bain made millions as S.C. steelmaker went bankrupt". KansasCity.com. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ "Missouri Valley Special Collections: Item Viewer". Kchistory.org. February 8, 2001. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ Sullivan, Andy (January 6, 2012). "Special report: Romney's steel skeleton in the Bain closet". Reuters. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ "To the Citizens of the City of Georgetown". South Strand News. May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "Fire destroys seven historic buildings on Front St. in Georgetown". WCSC. September 23, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Lawrence, Demi (June 5, 2021). "Georgetown affordable housing development denied, concerns rise about attracting more". Georgetown Times. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Fretwell, Sammy (April 24, 2019). "A toxic microbe lurks on the SC coast. Older fat men should worry most". The State. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "South Carolina libraries and archives". SCIWAY. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
External links
- City of Georgetown official website
- Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce
- Georgetown Times, a thrice weekly newspaper founded in 1798
- Georgetown County
- Georgetown County-Hammock Coast Tourism
- Winyah Bay marine and aquatic research
- When Rice Was King, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan