Great Carolina Wren  - State Bird The Carolina Wren is a member of the family Troglodytidae. It is present in all areas in South Carolina from the coast to the highest mountain. The song; which may be interpreted as " tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle;" may be heard the year-round, day and night, in all kinds of weather. The Carolina Wren is slightly smaller than an English Sparrow and has a conspicuous white stripe over the eyes. The back of its body is rufous-red with underparts somewhat lighter in color. The tail, which is finely barred with black, is held erect when the bird is excited. The flight of this bird is performed by short flappings of the wings and moves just distances. The Carolina Wren moves from one fence-rail to another, from log to log, up and down among the low branches of bushes piles of wood, and decayed roots of prostrate trees, or between the stalks of canes. The quickness of the motions of this active little bird is fully equal to that of the mouse. Its tail is almost constantly erect, and before it starts to make the least flight or leap, it uses a quick motion, which brings its body almost into contact with the object on which it stands, and then springs from its legs. All this is accompanied with a strong chirr-up, uttered as if the bird were in an angry mood, and repeated at short intervals. During spring, these notes are heard from all parts of the plantations, the damp woods, the swamps, the sides of creeks and rivers, as well as from the barns, the stables and the piles of wood, within a few yards of the house. The nest of the Carolina Wren is usually placed in a hole in some low decayed tree, or in a fence-stake, sometimes even in the stable, barn, or coach-house, should it there find a place suitable for its reception. They usually raise two, sometimes three broods in a season. The young soon come out from the nest, and in a few days after creep and hop about. Note: Prior to 1939 "The Carolina Wren" had been unofficialy recognized as the State Bird of South Carolina. In 1939 the General Assembly passed an Act (No.311) designating the Mockingbird as the official Bird of the State. Act No. 693, 1948 (1962 Civil Code, Sec.28-2) was passed repealing the 1939 Act and designating the Carolina Wren as the official State Bird instead of the Mockingbird.                                                                                                    South Carolina Facts and Trivia Campbell's Covered Bridge built in 1909, is the only remaining covered bridge in South Carolina. Off Hwy 14 near Gowensville. The salamander was given the honor of official state amphibian. The walls of the American fort on Sullivan Island, in Charleston Harbor, were made of spongy Palmetto logs. This was helpful in protecting the fort because the British cannonballs bounced off the logs. The City of Myrtle Beach is in the center of the Grand Strand, a 60-mile crescent of beach on the South Carolina coast. In the last 25 years, Myrtle Beach has developed into the premier resort destination on the East Coast. South Carolina entered the Union on May 23, 1788 and became the 8th state. David Robert Coker (1870-1938) conducted his early crop-improvement experiments on the family plantation in Hartsville. Beginning with 30 experimental cotton selections and methodically applying the latest techniques in the scientific breeding of crops, the work of Coker Experimental Farms played a great role in the agricultural revolution in the South. The state dance of South Carolina is the Shag! The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter. South Carolina is the nation's leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi River. Before being known as the Palmetto State, South Carolina was known as, and had emblazoned on their license plates, the Iodine State. The only major league baseball player to wear the name of his hometown on his uniform was pitcher Bill Voiselle. He wore number 96. The Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame features champion thoroughbred flat racers and steeplechase horses trained in Aiken. The Black River Swamp Preserve is located near Andrews. This slow-moving river is characterized by high concentrations of organic carbon, which accounts for the tea-colored water and gives rise to the diverse habitats in its widespread floodplain. Batesburg-Leesville is home to the annual South Carolina Poultry Festival held in early May. South Carolina's smallest county is McCormick at 360 square miles while the largest county is Horry at 1,134 square miles A noble Catawba Indian who befriended early Camden settlers, King Haiglar is often called "The Patron Saint of Camden." Today, he reigns over Camden in the form of a life-sized weather vane which graces the tower of what once was the circa-1886 Opera House. Chapin is known as the Capital of Lake Murray. Sumter has the largest Gingko farm in the world. Stretching 60 miles from Little River to Georgetown, South Carolina's Grand Strand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. The Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel was started in 1856 by a railroad company and is bored for more than a mile into the granite heart of fabled Stumphouse Mountain. The coming of the Civil War in 1859 ended the work on the project. Some years ago, Clemson University made Blue Mold Cheese in the tunnel successfully for the first time in the South. Tyler Brothers Work Shoe and Boot Company in Wagener produces 8 major brands of OSHA approved safety footwear, including such famous brands as Redwing, Georgia, Northlake, and Wolverine. The Board of Public Works in Gaffney built an elevated water storage tank in the shape of a peach in 1981. The Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail covers 66 miles of the river for which it's named. The Edisto is reputed to be the world's longest free-flowing "blackwater" stream. "Blackwater" is a term that not only describes the color of the tannin-rich water, but also refers to the peaceful rate of flow that characterizes such rivers. The Argent train Engine No. 7 was donated to the town of Hardeeville upon the closing of the Argent Lumber Company. This narrow gauge train is a rarity and attracts many people from across the nation. The first boll weevil found in South Carolina is on display at the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum. Duncan Park Baseball Stadium in Spartanburg is the oldest minor league stadium in the nation. Every few years, Irmo has a sighting of some kind of water monster that inhabits Lake Murray. The monster first 'surfaced' in 1973 when residents of Irmo and Ballentine saw a cousin of the Loch Ness Monster. It was described in The Independent News in 1980 as "a cross between a snake and something prehistoric." A 24-mile motorcycle trail and a 26-mile horse trail are unusual features of Parsons Mountain Park in the Sumter National Forest. The Isle of Palms was originally named Hunting Island and then Long Island, it's thought to be at least 25,000 years old, and was first inhabited by the indigenous Seewee Indians. Johnston is called The Hub of the Ridge because it is located at the meeting place of the three river systems which flow away from the Ridge, a fertile plateau about thirty miles long between clay hills to the north and sand hills to the south. Johnston is known as the Peach Capital of the World. The Lake City tobacco market was established in 1898, and has grown to become one of the two largest markets in South Carolina today. Sweetgrass basket making has been a part of the Mount Pleasant community for more than 300 years. Basket making is a traditional art form that has been passed on from generation to generation. Bomb Island on Lake Murray each spring and summer is the home of a very unusual event. Each year thousands of Purple Martins return to this island to roost for the summer. The island has been declared a bird sanctuary and it is quite a sight to watch these birds return to Bomb Island each day around sunset. At the Riverbanks Zoological Park in Columbia more than 2000 animals thrive in recreated natural habitats with no bars or cages. Little River is the Gateway to the Grand Strand. Giant moss-covered oak trees, that are centuries old, line its waterfront and many streets! There is an old saying in Marion that anyone who drinks water from Catfish Creek becomes infatuated with the area and wishes to remain there. In February 1852 William Burkhalter Dorn discovered the second richest vein of gold in SC history on the site of the present town of McCormick. Red Spider Lilies were first planted in the US, in the Willington-Mt. Carmel area when Dr. James Morrow sent them and other plants from the Orient while he served as surgeon with Commodore Perry’s expedition to open trade with Japan. The introduction of tobacco in 1894 rocketed Mullins into the Tobacco Capital of South Carolina. As many as 200 tobacco barns sprang up throughout the community. Warehouses were also constructed and the first tobacco sale took place on August 28, 1895. Housed in a 100-year-old freight depot, the Cowpens museum is a showplace for relics belonging to the crew of the USS Cowpens, a famous World War II aircraft carrier. Orangeburg is known as the "Garden City" because of its beautiful Edisto Memorial Gardens. The Edisto Memorial Gardens displays past and current award winning roses from the All-American Rose Selections. The Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport was the first airport in South Carolina opening in October 1927. Summerville's beauty is mirrored in her motto, "The Flower Town in the Pines." Since the early 1900's day tourists have flocked to the town during early spring to enjoy millions of spring blossoms, particularly azaleas, in private and public gardens, including the mid-town Azalea Park. Fountain Inn is proud of the town's most famous native son. Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates lost his leg in a cotton gin accident at the age of 12; he overcame his tragedy to become a famous dancer. His signature step was the "Imitation American Jet Plane," in which he would jump five feet in the air and land on his peg leg, with his good leg sticking out straight behind him. During his career, Bates performed more than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan television show more than any other artist. The Upper Whitewater Falls is the highest cascade in eastern America; it descends for nearly 411 feet. On Nov 2, 1954 Strom Thurmond became the first US senator elected by write-in vote. Thurmond received 139,106 write-in votes to win his seat. He defeated Democratic nominee Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes. Beginning Labor Day and running through the following weekend, the South Carolina Apple Festival celebrates the beginning of apple harvest season in Oconee County, the largest apple-producing area in the state. The Columbia City Ballet, South Carolina's oldest dance company, has developed into one of the most broadly supported performing arts organizations in the state. Largest Cities:   Columbia,  Charleston,  North Charleston,  Greenville,  Rock Hill,  Mount Pleasant,  Spartanburg,  Sumter,  Hilton,  Head Island, and  Florence. Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina 3,560 Feet Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776. South Carolina needed a national flag after it seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. The General Assembly considered a wide range of designs, but on January 28, 1861, added the palmetto to Moultrie's original design, thereby officially creating the flag as we know it today. A resolution proposing changing the color to "royal purple" as a memorial to the Confederate dead was resoundingly defeated in 1899, leaving the flag's Revolutionary War symbolism intact. By statute the flag shall be displayed "upon the inside of every public school building in this State so that all school children shall be instructed in proper respect for the flag," and daily except in rainy weather, from a staff upon the State House and from a staff upon each County Courthouse. The State Flag is also to be displayed in accordance with rules set by the State Superintendent of Education, on the grounds of educational institutions supported in whole or part, by funds derived from the State. It is also prescribed that any person who mutilates, injures or desecrates the State Flag, wherever displayed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $100 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days or both. More information on South Carolina flags here. State Flower - Yellow Jessamine Officially adopted by the General Assembly on February 1, 1924, for the following reasons: it is indigenous to every nook and corner of the State; it is the first premonitor of coming Spring; its fragrance greets us first in the woodland and its delicate flower suggests the pureness of gold; its perpetual return out of the dead Winter suggests the lesson of constancy in, loyalty to and patriotism in the service of the State. "No flower that blooms holds such perfume, As kindness and sympathy won. Wherever there grows the sheltering pine Is clinging a Yellow Jessamine vine." From "Legend of the Yellow Jessamine," by Mrs. Teresa Strickland of Anderson, South Carolina, when the flower was made the emblem of Dixie Chapter, U.D.C., about 1906. The "Carolina or Yellow Jessamine" is defined by the New International Encyclopedia as "A climbing plant which grows upon trees and fences and bears a profusion of yellow, funnel-shaped flowers an inch in diameter, with a fragrance similar to that of the true Jasmine." Its odor on a damp evening or morning fills the atmosphere with a rare and delicate sweetness. State Sword This sword rests in the customary rack on the Senate rostrum in front of the President's chair during the daily sessions and is carried by the Sergeant-at-Arms on all State occasions. The present Sword of State was presented to the Senate February 20, 1951, as a personal gift to South Carolina by Lord Halifax, former British ambassador to the United States. The sword was fashioned by master craftsmen of London, England, having a pointed straight blade, the upper portion of which is etched with a design containing the State Flower, the yellow jessamine. One side of the design is centered with the State Seal. It has a golden curved guard and a handle wrapped with gold braid. This sword replaces the cavalry sword that was used after the Sword of State disappeared from the Senate rostrum in 1941. The cavalry sword was presented on March 5, 1941, and is carried in the Senate Journal of that date as follows: "Mr. Means, on behalf of the Charleston Museum, which is the oldest like institution in the U.S., presented to the Senate a cavalry sword made in 1800 and used in the War of 1812 and in the War of the Confederacy, to replace the Sword of State recently stolen from the Chamber." This sword has been returned to the Charleston Museum. State Tree - Palmetto Tree Adopted as the "Official State Tree of the State of South Carolina" by Joint Resolution No. 63, approved March 17, 1939. The South Carolina Palmetto is classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as "Inodes Palmetto (also called Sabal Palmetto) and commonly known as the Cabbage Palmetto." It has long been closely associated with the history of South Carolina, being represented on the State Flag as well as on the State Seal, where it is symbolical of the defeat of the British fleet by the fort, built of Palmetto logs, on Sullivan's Island. The Palmetto is an attractive feature of the coastal areas of South Carolina and is also found in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. The large leafbud is highly prized as a salad vegetable for use in making pickles or relishes, and in Florida some use has been made of the fibers from the leaf bases. Such uses, however, are wasteful since the palm must be destroyed in either case and years must lapse before it can be replaced.   License Plates - see the many designs of South Carolina license plates (off site link). South Carolina State Objects of interest State stone - The General Assembly by Act No. 345 of 1969, adopted the Blue Granite as the official stone of the State. The Act stated that "the blue granite stone of this State has been widely used to beautify all areas of South Carolina. State Grass - Indian Grass, Sorghastrum nutans, was designated as the official Grass of the State by Act 94, 2001. State Animal - The whitetail deer (odocoileus virginianus) is South Carolina's State Animal (designated by Act No. 1334 in 1972). This species of deer is one of the greatest game animals in North America and our State's most sought after game. The whitetail deer is quite plentiful in South Carolina and some areas of the State have the longest deer-hunting season and most liberal bag limit in the United States. Every county in South Carolina features an open season on deer. State Game Bird - The wild turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo - designated by Act No. 508, 1976) is South Carolina's official State Wild Game Bird. The wild turkey is a bird of the deep woods and hardwood forests. It is a prized game bird and is considered a table delicacy. Wild turkeys are hunted only during the spring season and are found throughout the State, primarily on game management lands. State Fish - South Carolina's State Fish, the striped bass (Act No. 1333, 1972), is the State's most famous game fish. Its large size and aggressive nature make it an angler's favorite. The Santee Cooper Lakes were the original home for the landlocked striped bass. Some of the best striped bass fishing in the world can be found in these lakes, with many stripers weighing 30 to 40 pounds. These great game fish have also been stocked in all of the State's major reservoirs. State Reptile - The Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta Caretta, was designated as the official reptile of the State by the General Assembly on June 1, 1988, by Act No. 588. Loggerhead Sea Turtles are recognized as a threatened specie and the destruction of their nesting habitat further threatens them with extinction. They perform extended migration between their feeding grounds and rookeries, and South Carolina is considered to have some of the most pristine nesting areas used by Loggerhead Sea Turtles on the eastern coast. State Insect - The Carolina mantid, Stagmomantis carolina (Johannson), a praying mantis, was designated the State Insect by the General Assembly by Act No. 591 of 1988, for the following reasons: it is a native, beneficial insect that is easily recognizable throughout the State; it symbolizes the importance of the natural science of entomology and its special role in all forms of agriculture in helping to control harmful insects; and it provides a perfect specimen of living science for the children of this State. State Butterfly - The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Pterourus Glaucus, was designated the official butterfly of the State by Act No. 319, 1994. The first known painting was done in 1587 by John White, a commander in Sir Walter Raleigh's Expedition to the colonies. The Garden Club of South Carolina has identified the Tiger Swallowtail of particular interest to South Carolinians because it serves as a pollinator in orchards and gardens. It can be seen in deciduous woods, along streams, rivers and wooded swamps and in towns and cities throughout South Carolina. State Dog - The Boykin Spaniel (designated by Act No. 31, 1985) is the official dog of the State. The Boykin Spaniel is the only dog which was originally bred for South Carolina hunters by South Carolinians and has developed into a breed of superb hunting instincts and mild temperment. They are highly regarded as pets and hunting dogs. State Shell - The Lettered Olive, Oliva Sayana, was designated the official shell of the State by Act No. 360, 1984. Dr. Edmund Ravenel of Charleston, South Carolina, an early pioneer in concholgy, found and named the Lettered Olive shell which is quite prolific along the South Carolina Coast. State Amphibian - The Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, was designated as the official State Amphibian by Act No. 79, 1999. The Spotted Salamander is a stout-bodied species of 150 to 249 millimeters in length, identified by bright yellow round spots in two irregular rows on a dark background. The species inhabits deciduous forests with semipermanent pools about one meter deep. The Spotted Salamander is the only amphibian indigenous to the whole State and survives by avoiding bottomlands subject to regular flooding and permanent ponds containing fish. State Spider - The Carolina Wolf Spider, Hogna carolinensis, was designated as the official State Spider by Act No. 389 in 2000. State Gem - The Amethyst was designated as the official State Gem Stone by the General Assembly June 24, 1969 (Act No. 345). "S.C. is one of three states where the gem stone Amethyst of good quality is found in the U.S.; the curator of mineralogy for the Smithsonian Institute has graded one of the largest early specimens from this State as the finest seen in this country; such stone now holds first place in the Amethyst section in the institute...is the most prized type of quartz for its wide use and various shades and hue from deep orchid color." State Opera - Porgy and Bess was designated the official Opera of the State by the General Assembly by Act 94, 2001. State Popular Music - The General Assembly by Act No. 15, 2001 designated beach music as the official popular music of South Carolina. Beach music has contributed tremendously to the enjoyment of our citizens and has become synonymous with the Shag. State Music - ACT 64, (H.177), 1999 designated THE SPIRITUAL as the Official Music of the State. The spiritual is a song originating in the slave era that deals primarily with a religious or sacred theme. Much of this music originated along the coastal regions of South Carolina. The spiritual was passed down orally for many years and first committed to writing in South Carolina on St. Helena Island by a freed black woman and a white Union Army officer during the Civil War. The publication of an 1867 book on slave songs was the result of the work done by an educational mission on the Port Royal islands in 1861. The earliest known spirituals were taken from passages of the Bible. Some well-known examples of spirituals are "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Steal Away to Jesus", "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen", "Roll, Jordan, Roll", "Wade in the Water" "Come by Here Lord, Come by Here", "This Little Light of Mine", "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child", "Go Down, Moses", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", and "Follow the Drinking Gourd". Booker T. Washington probably best described spirituals as "... the spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor... having their origin chiefly in the camp meetings, the revivals and in other religious gatherings... the music of these songs goes to the heart because it comes from the heart...". Those South Carolinians who perform the "Gullah Shout" state that spirituals are key to getting the rhythm for the "Shout". In old spirituals style, a leader improvises the text, time, and melody and other singers respond by repeating short phrases, and this traditional West African singing style is referred to as leader-chorus or call-and-response. The legacy of spirituals is still evident in African-American communities where the "talking back" or call and response heard among churchgoers comes directly from slave songs and spirituals. For many South Carolina citizens, the spirituals were the first songs they learned. Singing a spiritual is one way of honoring one's past and lineage. Although spirituals are not literature, the Norton Anthology of African American Literature signaled their importance by opening up the anthology with a chapter entitled "The Vernacular Tradition" and spirituals are the first discussed oral tradition of black expression. State Waltz - The Richardson Waltz was designated as the official State Waltz by Act No. 389 in 2000. This waltz, a beautiful and soulful melody, is a memento of the musical tradition of the Richardson family, descendants of General Richard Richardson, and has for many generations played an unofficial but important role in the musical history of South Carolina. State Folk Dance - The General Assembly by Act No. 329, 1994, designated the Square Dance as the official American Folk Dance of the State. Square dancing is a traditional form of family recreation in South Carolina and is an activity for young and old which has been recorded throughout South Carolina's history. Square dancing is the American Folk Dance which is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, and heritage dances. State Dance - The General Assembly by Act No. 329, 1984, designated the Shag as the official dance of the State. The Shag, one of the great developments of terpsichorean culture and native to this State, is performed to music known as rhythm and blues. Both the music and dance are structured on time signature and can be performed to almost any tempo, as long as the basic step is maintained and kept in time to the music. State Song - Acting on the memorial of the South Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution that the patriotic song "Carolina," written by Henry Timrod, South Carolina's most beloved poet, set to music by Miss Anne Custis Burgess, be made "legally the State Song," the General Assembly, on February 11, 1911, adopted Senator W.L. Mauldin's Concurrent Resolution that it "be accented and declared to be the State Song of South Carolina."   Also - "South Carolina on My Mind" created, sung and recorded by Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge, native South Carolinians, was designated by Act No. 302, 1984, as an official State Song. South Carolina has two mottoes: (1) DUM SPIRO SPERO, meaning "WHILE I BREATHE I HOPE" and refers to the figure of Hope on the State Seal, and (2) ANIMIS OPIBUSQUE PARATI meaning "READY IN SOUL AND RESOURCE" Seals of South Carolina - Past and Present                                    South Carolina Seal On March 26, 1776, the Provincial Congress of South Carolina set up an independent government, electing John Rutledge, President. On April 2, 1776, the President and Privy Council were authorized by Resolution of the General Assembly "to design and cause to be made a Great Seal of South Carolina." After the Declaration of Independence, a design for the arms of an official great seal, prepared by William Henry Drayton, a member of the Privy Council, was accepted, together with a design for the reverse, said to have been designed by Arthur Middleton. Both designs were turned over to an engraver in Charles Town and engraved as a great seal, which was used by Pres. Rutledge for the first time on May 22, 1777. The Seal was made in form of a circle, four inches in diameter, and four-tenths of an inch thick. Both the arms and reverse symbolize the battle fought on June 28, 1776, between the unnamed, and unfinished fort at Sullivan's Island (now Fort Moultrie), and the British Fleet.   The Seal of the Senate The Seal of the South Carolina House of Representatives Previous Seal of South Carolina The Mace of the House A Mace is the emblem of authority for the House of Representatives. It has been the custom every day, since 1880, upon the opening of session, for the Sergeant-at-Arms to bear the mace ahead of the Speaker and lay it upon its specially prepared rack on the Rostrum in front of the Speaker. The Mace remains on its rack until recess or adjournment. When the House and Senate meet in a Joint Assembly the Mace is always borne at the head of the procession. The Mace was made in London, in 1756, by Magdalen Feline. It was purchased by the "Commons House of Assembly of the Province of South Carolina" for 90 guineas. Around the cylindrical head, below the crown, are four circular decorative panels. The four panels depict art work that is representational of craftsmanship from England, France, Ireland and Germany. Made of solid silver, with gold burnishing, it resembles the Mace of the Common Council of Norwich, England. The Mace weighs about 11 pounds and it is scepter-like in appearance. It is topped with a symbolic royal diadem that was modelled after the Crown of St. Edward. At some point in the fourteenth century the idea of the battle-mace was combined with that of the royal scepter, and the ceremonial mace was conceived. So far as Mr. A.S. Salley, Historian Emeritus, was able to learn it is the only Mace in use in the United States that antedates the American Revolution. In the diary of Joseph Quincey, Jr. of Massachusetts it is recorded that on March 19, 1773, he visited the House in Charleston and saw the Mace. He declared that "a very superb and elegant one," resides on the table before the Speaker. During the Revolution this Mace was appropriated by British sympathizers who offered it for sale to the House of Assembly of the Bahama Islands. The records of the body show that authority was given to purchase it. Mr. Salley reported that "as a matter of fact" it was not purchased. During the latter part of the American Revolution the mace disappeared from its resting place in the old State House of Charles Town, now Charleston. In 1819 when the Hon. Langdon Cheves of South Carolina went to Philadelphia as President of the Bank of the United States, he found the Mace in a vault of the bank and returned it to South Carolina. In a letter to Mr. Salley, the Hon. James Simons of Charleston, states that the "Mace was not used after war until I became Speaker, when I had it brought up into the House and used for the purposes for which it was intended." During the night of February 3, 1971, the Mace was taken from the locked glass enclosure. On Feb. 24, 1971, it was recovered in Gainsville, Fla., by Chief J.P. Strom of SLED and returned to the House of Representatives, where it is displayed in a vault. The South Carolina House of Representatives Mace is the oldest legislative mace in use in the United States.

15 Ghost Counties  - SOUTH CAROLINA Berkeley County - One of South Carolina's three original counties, Berkeley District was formed in 1683, and discontinued sometime later. Not the same as the current Berkeley County. Camden District - Created in 1769; discontinued. Carteret County - Formed in 1683; renamed Granville in 1700; later discontinued. Cheraws District - Formed in 1769, and later discontinued, this county became parts of Chesterfield and Darlington Counties. Claremont County - Created sometime prior to 1800; abolished after 1810. Colleton County - Another of the original three counties, created in 1683. Abolished. Not the same as the current Colleton County. Craven County - The last of the original three counties; Created in 1683, and later discontinued. Granville District - Originally Carteret County; discontinued. Liberty County - Discontinued sometime after 1800. Ninety-Six District - Formed in 1769, and later dissolved. Orange County - Discontinued sometime after 1800. Pendleton County - Created in 1798; discontinued after 1820. Pickney District - Formed in 1793; abolished. Salem County - Created before 1800; discontinued sometime after 1810. Washington District - Formed in 1793, and dissolved about 1826. Winyaw County - Created before 1800; discontinued sometime after 1810.

The greatest part of the information obtained above was received from
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