South Carolina Trivia & Tidbits - Page 11

Looking for South Carolina trivia? Try our list South Carolina little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Jessica Preston of Gilbert (pop. 500) reeled in a state’s-record flathead catfish—79 pounds, 4 ounces—in 2001 at Santee Diversion Canal in Berkeley County.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

The Charleston Museum in Charleston is regarded as America’s first museum, established in 1773 by the Charleston Library Society.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White was born in 1957 in North Myrtle Beach (pop. 10,974).

first appeared: 4/13/2003

The rare narrow-gauge Argent train Engine No. 7 was donated to Hardeeville (pop. 1,793) in 1960 by the Argent Lumber Co.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

The 1822 library in Society Hill (pop. 700) is among the state’s oldest lending libraries.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

In the 1870s, water spilling from a 5,000-gallon tank that fueled steam engines caused clover to sprout—along with the town name, Clover (pop. 4,014).

first appeared: 3/23/2003

In 1966, Salley (pop. 410) held its first Chitlin’ Strut Festival to pay for Christmas lights. The annual festival, featuring fried hog intestines, attracts 50,000 people on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Composer George Gershwin wrote the famous folk opera Porgy and Bess while summering at Folly Beach (pop. 2,116) in 1934.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Joel Poinsett, the first ambassador to Mexico and a native of Charleston, introduced horticultural species here, including his namesake, the poinsettia. Poinsett State Park near Sumter (pop. 39,643) is named after him.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

One of the first laws restricting tree cutting and fining offenders $25 was passed in 1847 in Summerville (pop. 27,752). It’s still on the books.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

The Lettered Olive became the state shell in 1984. The seashell, known for its shiny luster, is the exterior skeleton of a sand-burrowing snail.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

The amethyst became South Carolina’s official gem in 1969. National mineral experts claim the state has some of the country’s finest specimens of the purple gem.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

The Carolina mantid, a praying mantis, is the official state insect. It is useful to agriculture by preying on crop-eating bugs and is easily recognizable.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

The official sword of the Senate of South Carolina was given to the state in 1951 by the former British ambassador to the United States. Decorated with some of South Carolina’s symbols, the sword is present at all official state occasions.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

The lowest temperature ever recorded in South Carolina was 19 degrees below zero at Caesars Head in Greenville County on Jan. 21, 1985.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

Clemson University was founded in 1889. About 18 years later, the state’s first collegiate newspaper, The Tiger, was published there.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

The National Wild Turkey Federation is headquartered in Edgefield (pop. 4,449). The 450,000-member, nonprofit organization promotes conservation, scientific wildlife management, and responsible hunting worldwide.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

South Carolina town names include Cowpens (pop. 2,279), Five Forks (pop. 8,064), Gray Court (pop. 1,021), Lake Secession (pop. 928), Powderville (pop. 5,362), and Promised Land (pop. 559).

first appeared: 12/29/2002

South Carolina’s oldest continuously held festival—in this case honoring watermelons—takes place each summer in Hampton County, which ranks among the state’s top watermelon producers. The county’s first Watermelon Festival was held in July 1939.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

Dr. Ernest Just, born in Charleston in 1883, was the first person to unlock the secrets of cell function and structure.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

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