Seneca is a city in
Oconee County,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, United States. The population was 8,102 at the
2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca
Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 74,273 at the
2010 census), an (MSA) that includes all of Oconee County, and that is included within the greater
Greenville-
Spartanburg-
Anderson, South Carolina
Combined Statistical Area
Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...
(population 1,266,995 at the
2010 census). Seneca was named for the nearby
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
town of
''Isunigu'', which English colonists knew as "Seneca Town".
History
In the antebellum period, this area was part of the
Pickens District, South Carolina Pickens may refer to:
People
* Pickens (surname)
Places in the United States of America
* Pickens, Mississippi
* Pickens, Oklahoma
* Pickens, South Carolina
* Pickens, Texas
* Pickens, West Virginia
* Pickens County, Alabama
* Pickens County, ...
. The state had used jurisdictions such as parish, county, district, and county again in its history. Oconee County was not organized until 1868, after the American Civil War.
Seneca was founded in 1873, during the
Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
, as the railroad town "Seneca City", named for the
Seneca River and a historic
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
town known as ''Isunigu''. It was called Seneca in a kind of transliteration by British colonists.
Seneca City was developed at the intersection of the
Blue Ridge Railroad and the newly built Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad. Both lines are now part of the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
. A. W. Thompson and J. J. Norton, who were