South Carolina Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

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

—In September, for the first time since 1964, the state allowed the public to hunt alligators. The state’s gator population has remained fairly stable at about 100,000, but development has meant the large reptiles increasingly encounter people.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—Owls, hawks, kestrels and other raptors provide flight demonstrations for visitors at the Avian Conservation Center and Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw (pop. 1,195). The center was the inspiration for the novel Skyward by best-selling author Mary Alice Monroe.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—The Old Slave Mart in Charleston is believed to be the state’s only building in existence that was used for slave auctions. The 1859 building today is a museum.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—Movies and meals star at the Capitol Theater and Cafe, a movie theater that opened for the first time in 1926, in downtown Laurens (pop. 9,916). Owners Ronnie and Debbie Campbell revived the building, and reopened the theater last year.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—One of the state’s oldest surviving gristmills still producing grain products is the 1845 Hagood Mill near Pickens (pop. 3,012). The mill has a 20-foot overshoot wooden waterwheel.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—Rock ’n’ roll music is the theme of Hard Rock Park, a $400- million theme park that opened in the spring in Myrtle Beach (pop. 22,759) and includes attractions such as The Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane” roller coaster.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—The only revolving restaurant on a university campus is Top of Carolina at the Capstone House, an 18-story residence hall at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—W.C. “Corky” Taylor of Spartanburg (pop. 39,673) landed a spot in the state record book when he hooked an 881.8-pound blue marlin in 2005 while fishing in the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series tournament.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—Horse breeders are trying to save the native marsh tacky horse, whose ancestors were left by colonial Spanish explorers. The animals have a reputation for being workhorses suited for toiling long hours in swamps and humidity.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—Since 1985, live lobster races have been held each May in Aiken (pop. 25,337). The crustaceous competitors race—or crawl—their way to the finish line in a long water-filled tank.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

—In 1917, Eugenia Duke’s mayonnaise was prized on sandwiches she made for soldiers at Camp Sevier in Greenville (pop. 56,002). Duke’s Mayonnaise, with the original recipe, still is produced by C.F. Sauer Co.’s manufacturing plant in Greenville.

first appeared: 8/10/2008

—Founded in 1970, the Old Charleston Joggling Board Co. in Charleston builds a traditional springy wooden seat that was introduced in the early 1800s and still can be found on porches in the region. The joggling board is a long pliable board supported on each end by wooden stands on rockers.

first appeared: 7/27/2008

—On Dec. 20, 1860, the state became the first to secede from the Union within weeks after the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Representatives to the secession convention voted unanimously, 169 to 0, to withdraw from the United States.

first appeared: 7/13/2008

—A monument marks the site of the Cleveland School, a country school in Kershaw County (pop. 52,647), where a 1923 fire claimed the lives of 77 people when an oil lamp fell and ignited the second-floor auditorium during a school play.

first appeared: 6/29/2008

—Since 1938, folks have enjoyed old-fashioned milkshakes and ice cream cones, and carving their names in the counter, at the soda fountain at Pitt Street Pharmacy in Mount Pleasant (pop. 47,609).

first appeared: 6/15/2008

—Visitors flock to Caesars Head State Park in Greenville County each fall to watch hawks from a perch of about 3,300 feet and see hundreds of soaring and swirling migrating raptors.

first appeared: 6/1/2008

—Spartanburg (pop. 39,673) last year became the first city in the state to be designated a “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American Bicyclists. The city encourages cycling with bike lanes, downtown bike racks, a community bicycle-lending program and cycling education programs.

first appeared: 5/18/2008

—The state’s oldest resident, Leila Bertha Backman Shull of Lexington County, died at age 113 last December. She was believed to be the fourth oldest person in the United States and the seventh oldest in the world.

first appeared: 5/4/2008

—Made in 1756 by an English goldsmith, the South Carolina Mace is the traditional symbol of authority for the House of Representatives. The gloved sergeant at arms or an assistant removes the nearly 11-pound decorative staff from its vault and places it in a special rack before each legislative session.

first appeared: 3/9/2008

—The state has one federally recognized American Indian tribe, the Catawba Indian Nation near Rock Hill (pop. 49,765). The tribe has about 2,600 members.

first appeared: 2/24/2008

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