Chesnee is a city in Spartanburg and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

counties, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. The population was 868 as of the 2010 census.

History

In the early 20th century, the Chesnee Land Company bought a sizeable acreage at what is now Chesnee. A leading member of the company was John B. Cleveland of Spartanburg. Cleveland named the company - and later the town - after his great-grandmother, Margaret Chesnee, who was born in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. She married Alexander Vernon, also born in Scotland. The

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile segmen ...

ran an excursion train over the newly laid rails to Spartanburg on October 23, 1909. The Chesnee post office was established in 1910, and the town was chartered in 1911. Early businesses included a hotel, pharmacy, cotton mill, and lumber mill. The

Cowpens National Battlefield Cowpens National Battlefield is a unit of the National Park Service just east of Chesnee, South Carolina, and near the state line with North Carolina. It preserves a major battlefield of the American Revolutionary War. Brigadier General Danie ...

and Zeno Hicks House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

Chesnee is located near the northeast corner of Spartanburg County, and a small part of the city extends east into Cherokee County. U.S. Route 221 passes through the city as Alabama Avenue and Hampton Street, leading north to Rutherfordton, North Carolina, and south to Spartanburg. South Carolina Highway 11 (Cherokee Street) crosses US 221 in the center of town and leads west to Campobello and east past

to Gaffney. 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 ...

, Chesnee has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 829 people, 324 households, and 159 families residing in the city.

2000 census

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 1,003 people, 396 households, and 239 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 460 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 68.20%

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 ...

, 27.52%

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 ...

, 0.30% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 1.99% from other races, and 1.89% from two or more 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 people of any race were 4.69% of the population. There were 396 households, out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% 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, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. Of all households, 35.4% were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.18. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,089, and the median income for a family was $33,438. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $17,500 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 city was $12,993. About 16.5% of families and 24.3% 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 37.6% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education is administered by Spartanburg County School District 2. Three schools are located in Chesnee, including Chesnee High School. Chesnee has a

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a librar ...

, a branch of the Spartanburg County Public Library.

Notable people

* Woody Abernathy, repaired broadloom in Chesnee for 30 years after retiring from pitching with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

* Sonja Glenn, 1998 Miss South Carolina USA * Stephen Twitty, decorated U.S. Army major general

References

External links

City of Chesnee official website

Governmental information on City of Chesnee

History and community information about Chesnee
{{authority control Cities in Cherokee County, South Carolina Cities in South Carolina Cities in Spartanburg County, South Carolina