Abbeville, South Carolina
| Abbeville, South Carolina | |
 |
|
| Coordinates: {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:34|10|43|N|82|22|45|W|type:city | |
|---|---|
| name= }} | |
| Country | United States |
| State | South Carolina |
| County | Abbeville |
| Area | |
| - Total | 5.9 sq mi (15.2 km²) |
| - Land | 5.9 sq mi (15.2 km²) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²) |
| Elevation | 591 ft (180 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 5,840 |
| - Density | 995.2/sq mi (384.3/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 29620 |
| Area code(s) | 864 |
| FIPS code | 45-00100GR2 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1244839GR3 |
For other communities of the same name, see Abbeville (disambiguation).
Abbeville is a city in Abbeville County, South Carolina, United States, 86 miles (138 km) west of the state capitol of Columbia. As of 2000, the population was 26,167. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 26,133. It is the county seat of Abbeville County. Abbeville is named after a town in France located in northern France only 20 miles from the Atlantic coastline. Abbeville County South Carolina sits along the Savannah River separating South Carolina and Georgia.
The city is the birthplace of noted states rights advocate John C. Calhoun, whose ideas helped lead to the American Civil War a decade after his death. The city also played a key role during the Civil War and is called the Birthplace and Deathbed of the Confederacy, because it was here that Jefferson Davis made some of his most important decisions as President of the Confederacy.
In January of 2008, First Lady Laura Bush designated Abbeville as a Preserve America Community. This initiative recognizes those communities that demonstrate they are committed to preserving their cultural and natural heritage.[1]
Geography
Abbeville is located at {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:34|10|43|N|82|22|45|W|city | |name= }} (34.178572, -82.379200).GR1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.2 km² (5.9 mi²), all land.
It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 591 feet.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,167 people, 10,131 households, and 7,284 families residing in the county. The population density was 20/km² (52/mi²). There were 11,656 housing units at an average density of 9/km² (23/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.33% White, 30.29% Black or African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 10,131 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were married couples living together, 15.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,635, and the median income for a family was $38,847. Males had a median income of $30,452 versus $21,045 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,370. About 10.10% of families and 13.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 16.90% of those age 65 or over.[2]
History
Abbeville was originally settled in 1758 by a group of French Huguenots. In 2008, Abbeville will be celebrating its 250th anniversary. The City was officially incorporated as a municipality within the State of South Carolina on December 20, 1832.
American Civil War
Abbeville has the unique distinction of being both the birthplace and the deathbed of the Confederacy. On November 22, 1860, a meeting was held at Abbeville, at a site since dubbed "Secession Hill", to launch South Carolina's secession from the Union; one month later, the state of South Carolina became the first state to secede.
It was also the birthplace of noted states rights advocate John C. Calhoun. On March 18, 1782, John C. Calhoun was born near Abbeville, South Carolina. Calhoun became a congressman, senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice president of the United States. He was the first vice-president born as a United States citizen. Calhoun served as the seventh Vice President of the United States, first under John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) and then under Andrew Jackson (1829-1832), but resigned the Vice Presidency to enter the United States Senate, where he had more power. He also served in the United States House of Representatives (1810-1817) and was both Secretary of War (1817-1824) and Secretary of State (1844-1845). He is buried in the graveyard of St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
At the end of the Civil War, with the Confederacy in shambles, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond, Virginia and headed south, stopping for a night in Abbeville at the home of his friend Armistead Burt. It was on May 2, 1865, in the front parlor of what is now known as the Burt-Stark Mansion that Jefferson Davis officially acknowledged the dissolution of the Confederate government.
Trinity Episcopal Church was founded in 1842. The cornerstone was laid in 1859 at the current address of 200 Church Street at a cost of $15,665.00 dollars that included the organ. The church steeple sits 120 feet high and is easily seen within downtown Abbeville. The church grounds also include a cemetery which holds both Confederate and Union soldiers.[3]
Lynching
Lynching in 1916 in Abbeville, SC by a crowd estimated to be between 200 and 400 blood-thirsty white people. His ordeal lasted all day. His body was beaten and dragged through town to show other Negroes what would happen to them if they got "insolent." Finally, he was taken to the county fair grounds and strung up to a tree and riddled with bullets. Although we have heard his body was thrown on someone’s lawn , we have yet to locate his grave. The family was ordered to vacate their land, wind up business and get out of town. They did just that. His crime you might ask: cursing a white man for offering him a low price for the cotton seed he was trying to sell and being too rich for a Negro.
Anthony P. Crawford was born in January, 1865 and owned by Ben and Rebecca Crawford in Abbeville, South Carolina. He walked 14 miles roundtrip to and from school each day and proved to be quite a scholar. When Anthony finished school he was a laborer for Ben Crawford until Thomas Crawford, Anthony's father, died in 1893 and deeded some land to Anthony, who was the only one of nine siblings able to sign his own name.
Andy, as he was known, had 13 children, all of whom lived on his land with their spouses and children. He built a school on his land for the children of blacks in Abbeville and also held an office with the Masons of South Carolina.[4]
2003 Right-of-Way Standoff
On December 8, 2003, in a 14-hour standoff that stemmed from a land-survey dispute, two Abbeville lawmen were gunned down by West Abbeville resident Steven Bixby. This siege has been compared by both sympathizers of the Bixbys and law enforcement agents to the events of Waco and Ruby Ridge. In February 2007, Steven Bixby was convicted on 17 counts including the two murders, as well as lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy. He was given two death sentences for the murders plus 125 years in prison on the other charges.
Notable residents
- James S. Cothan, (1830-1897), born near Abbeville, United States Congressman from South Carolina [5]
- John Henry Logan, (1822-1885), born in Abbeville, physician, served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, professor at Atlanta Medical College, and editor of the Atlanta Medical Journal.[5]
- Benjamin Glover Shields, (1808-1850), born in Abbeville, was a United States Congressman from Alabama. [5]
- John C. Calhoun, 7th American Vice President under Andrew Jackson, notable States Rights Activist, and later the 16th Secretary of State of the United States
Historic Sites
Opera House
At the turn of this century there were many "road companies" producing shows in New York City. Once the production was assembled, the show traveled throughout the country. One of the more popular tours went from New York to Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta. For a number of years, Abbeville was an overnight stop for the entire touring company. Several members of the community decided that if this area had a facility, since the traveling companies were coming through here anyway, Abbeville could sponsor some of these touring productions.
On October 1,1908, what was then the Abbeville District dedicated a new Court House and City Hall. The grand old theatre now known as the Abbeville Opera House was a part of that splendid pair of buildings, "equal in beauty of architecture and modern conveniences of any in the state," according to regional newspaper accounts of the day. Some months later the great stage - 7500 square feet with its wonderful fly loft, cat walk and auditorium - was officially used for its intended purpose. The show was called "The Great Divide" and it was a gala occasion that set the entire area buzzing with excitement.
From that time on, all the "greats and near-greats" played on the magnificent Opera House stage. The Ziegfeld FOLLIES, George White's SCANDALS, Jimmy Durante, Sarah Bernhardt, QUO VADIS, BEN HUR, and many other memorable productions and performers were presented as the big road shows moved down the eastern seaboard. Vaudeville was in its "heyday" as was the Abbeville Opera House.[6]
Burt-Stark Mansion
Notes
- ↑ History, Culture and Local Economy Abbevillecitysc.sc.gov. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ↑ City of Abbeville Information Abbeville.sc. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ↑ Historic Abbeville County Abbevillecountysc.com. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ↑ Doria Johnson, 1998,The Lynching of Anthony Crawford Ccharity.com. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who.
- ↑ Abbeville Opera House Scmovietheatres.com. <Retrieved May 27, 2008.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Abbeville County Historical Society. 2004. Abbeville County. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 0738516724
- Ferguson, Lester W. 1993. Abbeville County: southern life-styles lost in time. Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co. ISBN 0871524759
- Ware, Lowry. 1992. Old Abbeville: scenes of the past of a town where old time things are not forgotten. Columbia, S.C.: SCMAR. ISBN 0913363111
External links
- Homepage. City of Abbeville
- Homepage. Abbeville Opera House
- City of Abbeville Information- Abbeville.sc.
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