Bethune is a small town in

Kershaw County Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest community is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, Fa ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, United States. The population was 334 at the 2010 census. It is part of the

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Europeans first moved into the area in the early 1800s, finding members of the Kadapaw tribe living in the area. Originally, the settlers named the town "Lynchwood", and in 1828 they established a post office. After the railroads came to the area, the town was officially chartered in 1900 and the name changed to honor Daniel Murdock Bethune.

Geography

Bethune is located in northeastern Kershaw County at (34.414881, -80.347414), northeast of Camden, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and southwest of

Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...

along

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

. South Carolina Highway 341 (Main Street) crosses US 1 in the center of town; it leads northwest to Kershaw and south to Bishopville. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town of Bethune has a total area of , all land. The

Lynches River Lynches River, named for Thomas Lynch, Jr., signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence, rises in North Carolina near Waxhaw, North Carolina, at about elevation, flowing only a short distance to the So ...

passes east of the town, and its tributary the Little Lynches River passes to the southwest. The rivers and the town are part of the watershed of the

Great Pee Dee River The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known a ...

. The MAC-Hunter Astronomical Observatory, a cooperative project of South Carolina amateur astronomers in the Midlands Astronomy Club, is sited south of town.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 352 people, 165 households, and 104 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 193 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 89.77%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 9.66%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.28%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.28% from other races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.84% of the population. There were 165 households, out of which 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.72. In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.3% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $32,083, and the median income for a family was $40,972. Males had a median income of $37,250 versus $26,406 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $18,879. About 5.3% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bethune has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Kershaw County Library.

Arts and culture

The Bethune Chicken Strut was an annual festival that took place every April but not longer exists. The festival included a parade on Main Street, a classic car show, carnival rides and live musical performances. The festival began in the early 1980s. The Bethune Christmas Parade is one of many parades that takes place during the Christmas season in Kershaw County.

References

External Link

An unofficial

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page for the community o
Bethune
{{authority control Towns in Kershaw County, South Carolina Towns in South Carolina Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina)