Nichols is a town in Marion County,

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 368 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Nichols is located at (34.232779, -79.148513). 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 has a total area of , all land.

History

The town was founded around the same time as

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

and Mullins, which was sometime after 1854 and was initially known as Floydsville. This was due to the land being on Harman Floyd's land that was sold off as town lots after his passing. These lots were surrounding depots for the

Wilmington and Manchester Railroad The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War. It received its charter in 1846 and began operation in 1853 from Wilmington, North Carolina, exten ...

. The town experienced a minor boom due to the

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

industry, which shortly died out and was replaced by the

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

. Later on, the town was renamed to its current title of Nichols, this time to honor Averett B. Nichols, who was a businessman that built a warehouse and store to take advantage of the tobacco boom and owned other stores in the town beside those of John H. Stroud and C. R. Ford. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a popular employer was a local store focusing in furniture that went by the name Pilliod of Carolina. The town suffered severe flooding from

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was a powerful tropical cyclone which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan ...

from the nearby

Lumber River The Lumber River, sometimes referred to as the Lumbee River, is a river in south-central North Carolina in the flat Coastal Plain. European settlers first called the river Drowning Creek, which is still used as the name of its headwater. The w ...

in 2016. Five months after the hurricane, 216 of the town's 261 homes remained vacant. Two of six churches remained closed, as were 15 of 22 businesses, the library, and most of the fire and police department resources. Mayor Lawson Battle suggested that the State House request that the Senate requisition $700,000 to help repair nearly 400 water-damaged buildings, replace vehicles, and reopen government offices. State Senator Kent Williams proposed this money be taken from the $4.5 million left over from a 2015 farmer aid package for storm damage.

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 408 people, 176 households, and 120 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 199 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 51.96%

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 ...

, 47.06%

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 ...

, 0.25% Native American, and 0.74% from two or more races. There were 176 households, out of which 17.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% 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, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.85. In the town, the population was spread out, with 18.6% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $41,597, and the median income for a family was $43,393. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $19,306 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 $18,092. About 6.6% of families and 11.4% 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 8.9% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Nichols 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 ...

, which is a branch of the Marion County Library System.

References

{{authority control Towns in Marion County, South Carolina Towns in South Carolina