4．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 25years，Myrtle Beach has developed into the premier resort destination on the East Coast．
5．South Carolina entered the Union on May 23，1788and became the 8th state．
6．David Robert Coker（1870－1938）conducted his early crop－improvement experiments on the family plantation in Hartsville．Beginning with 30experimental 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．
7．The state dance of South Carolina is the Shag！
8．The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter．
9．South Carolina is the nation’s leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi River．
10．Before being known as the Palmetto State，South Carolina was known as，and had emblazoned on their license plates，the Iodine State．
11．The only major league baseball player to wear the name of his hometown on his uniform was pitcher Bill Voiselle．He wore number 96．
12．The Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame features champion thoroughbred flat racers and steeplechase horses trained in Aiken．
13．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．
14．Batesburg－Leesville is home to the annual South Carolina Poultry Festival held in early May．
15．South Carolina’s smallest county is McCormick at 360square miles while the largest county is Horry at 1，134square miles．
16．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－1886Opera House．
17．Chapin is known as the Capital of Lake Murray．
18．Sumter has the largest Gingko farm in the world．
19．Stretching 60miles from Little River to Georgetown，South Carolina’s Grand Strand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States．
20．The Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel was started in 1856by 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 1859ended 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．
21．Tyler Brothers Work Shoe and Boot Company in Wagener produces 8major brands of OSHA approved safety footwear，including such famous brands as Redwing，Georgia，Northlake，and Wolverine．
22．The Board of Public Works in Gaffney built an elevated water storage tank in the shape of a peach in 1981．
23．The Edisto River Canoe &Kayak Trail covers 66miles 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．
24．The Argent train Engine No．7was 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．
25．The first boll weevil found in South Carolina is on display at the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum．
26．Duncan Park Baseball Stadium in Spartanburg is the oldest minor league stadium in the nation．
27．Every few years，Irmo has a sighting of some kind of water monster that inhabits Lake Murray．The monster first ’surfaced’in 1973when residents of Irmo and Ballentine saw a cousin of the Loch Ness Monster．It was described in The Independent News in 1980as “a cross between a snake and something prehistoric．”
28．A 24－mile motorcycle trail and a 26－mile horse trail are unusual features of Parsons Mountain Park in the Sumter National Forest．
29．The Isle of Palms was originally named Hunting Island and then Long Island，it’s thought to be at least 25，000years old，and was first inhabited by the indigenous Seewee Indians．
30．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．
31．Johnston is known as the Peach Capital of the World．
32．The Lake City tobacco market was established in 1898，and has grown to become one of the two largest markets in South Carolina today．
33．Sweetgrass basket making has been a part of the Mount Pleasant community for more than 300years．Basket making is a traditional art form that has been passed on from generation to generation．
34．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．
35．At the Riverbanks Zoological Park in Columbia more than 2000animals thrive in recreated natural habitats with no bars or cages．
36．Little River is the Gateway to the Grand Strand．Giant moss－covered oak trees，that are centuries old，line its waterfront and many streets！
37．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．
38．In February 1852William Burkhalter Dorn discovered the second richest vein of gold in SC history on the site of the present town of McCormick．
39．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．
