South Carolina from A to Z

“C” is for Cooper, Robert Archer (1874-1953). Governor.

“P” is for Purvis, Melvin Horace, Jr. (1902-1960). Federal agent. Born in Timmonsville, Purvis gained national fame during the 1930s as the nation's “ace G-man.”

“P” is for Purrysburg (Jasper County). The town of Purrysburg, located on the Savannah River in present day Jasper County, was named after its founder, Jean-Pierre Purry.

“P” is for Punches. Punches have been prominent at South Carolina social gatherings for centuries.

“S” is for Spanish moss. Spanish moss is gray tree-borne epiphyte native to the coastal plain of the southeastern United States.

“S“ is for Spanish. On a monument at the tip of Parris Island, a tile plaque proclaims, “Aqui estuvo España” (“Here was Spain”). The plaque refers to the colony of Santa Elena, located at this site (1566 to 1587).

“P” is for PTL Club. Based first in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then Fort Mill, South Carolina, the PTL Club (launched in 1974) was one of the most successful ventures in televangelism for much of the 1970s and 1980s.

“P” is for Provincials. When warfare broke out between the colonies and Great Britain in 1775, in addition to British soldiers and German mercenaries, British officials organized loyal Americans into conventional fighting units commonly referred to as provincials.

“P” is for Promised Land (Greenwood and Abbeville counties; 2020 population 555).

“C” is for Cooper, Anthony Ashley (1621-1683). Lord proprietor.

“C” is for Cooke, William Wilson (1871-1949). Architect.

“P” is for Progressive Democratic Party. Aware that many White Democrats in South Carolina opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's reelection to a fourth term, African American activists sought to demonstrate their loyalty to the National Party by mobilizing Black support for the president. By May 1944, that effort had morphed into the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

“P” is for Pringle, Robert (1702-1776). Merchant, planter, legislator, jurist.

“P” is for Pringle, Elizabeth Waites Allston (1845-1921). Born to wealth and privilege, the Civil War left Pringle and her family in financial distress. Pringle convinced the New York Sun editor to buy weekly articles she wrote about being a female rice plantation owner.

“P” is for Prince William's Parish. In 1745, the Commons House of Assembly passed an act creating Prince William's Parish. The parish was named for William, Duke of Cumberland, the son of King George II.

“P” is for Prince George Winyah Parish. Comprising portions of modern Georgetown, Horry, Marion, and Dillon Counties, Prince George Winyah Parish was established in 1721 to accommodate a wave of European settlers who had taken up residence north of the Santee River following the Yamasee War.

“S” is for Southern Wesleyan University. Southern Wesleyan University is a private Christian liberal arts institution.

“S” is for Southern Quarterly Review. The Southern Quarterly Review originated in New Orleans in 1842 but later moved to Charleston.

“S” is for South of the Border. Located just south of the North Carolina border near the South Carolina town of Hamer, South of the Border has long captured the attention of travelers on U.S. Highway 301 and Interstate 95.

“S” is for South Caroliniana Library. The South Caroliniana Library building was completed in 1840 as the central library building for South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina).

“P” is for Prince Frederick's Parish. Established in 1734, Prince Frederick's Parish stretched like an elongated triangle from the Santee River northward “to the utmost bounds of the province,” encompassing all our part of modern Dillon, Marion, Florence, Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg Counties.

“M” is for Musgrove, Mary (ca. 1700-1765). Mediator between the Creeks and the English.

“B” is for Brown, Lucy Hughes (1863-1911). Physician.

“B” is for Brown, James (1933-2006). Musician.

“B” is for Brown, Edgar Allan (1888-1975). Edgar Allan Brown was a fiscal conservative and politically was one of the most powerful men in state government through his position as president pro tempore of the Senate and chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

“B” is for Broughton, Thomas (d. 1737). Legislator, lieutenant governor.

“P” is for Primus Plot (May-June 1720). The Primus Plot was South Carolina's first alleged slave conspiracy.

“P” is for Preston, William Campbell (1794-1860). U. S. Senator.

“M” is for Myrtle Beach Pavilion. Until its closing in 2006 the Myrtle Beach Pavilion was located at 812 North Ocean Boulevard in the heart of Myrtle Beach.

“M” is for Murrells Inlet (Georgetown County; 2020 population 9,740). Murrells Inlet is located twenty-two miles up the Waccamaw Neck from Georgetown.

“M” is for Murray, George Washington (1853-1926). Congressman. During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Murray acquired an influential role in Republican Party affairs.

“B” is for Brooks, Preston Smith (1819-1857). Congressman.

“B” is for Brodie, Laura (1908-2004). Herpetologist. Brodie was born at Rockwood Farm five miles southeast of Leesville.

“B” is for Brookgreen Gardens. Brookgreen Gardens was created in 1931 by the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband, Archer M. Huntington.

“B” is for Bristow, Gwen (1903-1980). Novelist. By 1959 sales of Bristow's books had reached nearly three million copies.

“B” is for Briggs v. Eliott (1954). Briggs v. Elliot was one of five cases, collectively entitled Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County Kansas, et al., argued before the United States Supreme Court.

“S” is for South Carolina Wildlife Federation. Founded in 1931 the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) was established by outdoor enthusiasts concerned with protecting and preserving the natural heritage of their state.

“S” is for South Carolina State University. The institution was founded in 1896 in Orangeburg as the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina.

“S” is for South Carolina State Ports Authority. The South Carolina State Ports Authority is a state owned enterprise established by the General Assembly in 1942 to create and operate seaports in Charleston, Georgetown, and Port Royal.

“S” is for South Carolina State Museum. South Carolina's multidisciplinary State Museum opened in 1988.

“S” is for South Carolina Railroad. In the early nineteenth century, Charleston sought to bolster its economy by attempting to attract trade from the west.

“S” is for South Carolina Public Service Authority. The South Carolina Public Service Authority (better known as Santee Cooper) was established by the General Assembly in 1934 with the power to provide for navigation and flood control on the Santee, Congaree, and Cooper Rivers; to generate electricity; to reclaim swampland; and to reforest the state's watersheds.

“S” is for South Carolina-North Carolina border. In 1735 the two colonies appointed a joint boundary commission that agreed the boundary should begin at a point thirty miles south of the Cape Fear River. Because of surveying errors, South Carolina's northern boundary was eleven miles south of where it should have been.

“S” is for South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. The South Carolina National Heritage Corridor is a grassroots-led heritage tourism initiative that brings together communities throughout a fourteen county region from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Oconee County to the Atlantic Ocean along Charleston and Colleton Counties.