Society Hill is a town in
Darlington 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 alongside the
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 ...
. It is the oldest community in Darlington County and one of the first towns founded in
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 town was once the intellectual center of the Pee Dee region. However, the town's fortunes declined in the 19th century after rivers became less important as means of transportation. It is part of the
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In the 2020 census, the population of Society Hill was 438, down from 563 in 2010, 700 in 2000 and 848 in 1980. Society Hill was originally settled in the 18th century by a colony of Baptists, who named the community after their "St. David's Society," the predecessor to the Society Hill Library Society.
History
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, of or about Wales
* Welsh language, spoken in Wales
* Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales
Places
* Welsh, Arkansas, U.S.
* Welsh, Louisiana, U.S.
* Welsh, Ohio, U.S.
* Welsh Basin, during t ...
settlers came to the Society Hill area from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
in 1736.
It was the first settlement in Darlington County.
The Welsh settlers were Baptists and named the community after St. David's Society. The town was a center of intellectual life in the Pee Dee region in the 18th and early 19th century. St. David's Society educated leading men like
James Lide Coker
Major James Lide Coker (January 3, 1837, in Society Hill, South Carolina – June 25, 1918, in Hartsville, South Carolina) was a businessman, merchant, industrialist, Christian philanthropist, and Civil War veteran, and the founder of Sonoco Prod ...
, founder of
Sonoco
Sonoco Products Company is an American provider of diversified consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and packaging supply chain services and the world's largest producer of composite cans, tubes, and cores. The company w ...
and
Coker University
Coker University is a private university in Hartsville, South Carolina, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Coker's sports teams, nicknamed the Cobras, compete in NCAA Divi ...
.
Its library built in 1812 is the second oldest lending-library in South Carolina.
A new library, a branch of the Darlington County Library System, was built in 2011.
Society Hill began to decline as rivers became less important as means of transportation.
Business in the region shifted to surrounding towns such as
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 ...
and
Hartsville.
The population of the town peaked in 1980 with around 848 people.
In the 2010 census, the population of Society Hill was 563, down from 700 in 2000.
In 2017, Preservation South Carolina, a nonprofit organization, began a plan to sell eight historic buildings to preservation-minded purchasers within Society Hill. It was the organization's largest preservation effort at that time.
At the time, Society Hill did not have any zoning laws to protect such buildings.
Geography
Society Hill is located in northern Darlington County at (34.513827, -79.851005),
on high ground rising to the west of the
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 ...
. U.S. Routes
15 and
52 pass through the town. US 15 leads northeast to
Bennettsville
Bennettsville is a city located in the U.S. state of South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. As the county seat of Marlboro County, Bennettsville is noted for its historic homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries—includ ...
and to
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fayetteville and is home t ...
, and southwest to
Hartsville. US 52 leads north to
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 ...
and south to
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
, 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 ...
. The two highways merge at the north end of town and pass through it as Main Street before diverging southwest of the town limits.
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.
The
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 ...
, which separates Darlington County from
Marlboro County
Marlboro County is a county located in the Pee Dee region on the northern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 26,667. Its county seat is Bennettsville. The Great Pee Dee River runs through it. ...
, is to the northeast of the town via US 15.
Demographics
2020 census
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 700 people, 269 households, and 203 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 317 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 44.43%
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 ...
, 54.00%
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 ...
, 0.14%
Native American, 0.86% from
other races, and 0.57% 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 of any race were 0.57% of the population.
There were 269 households, out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% 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, 19.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $30,057, and the median income for a family was $37,875. Males had a median income of $25,662 versus $18,516 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 $15,005. About 13.3% of families and 14.5% 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 26.9% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
The town was the birthplace of
Gashouse Gang
The Gashouse Gang was the nickname of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team that dominated the National League from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Owing to their success that started in 1926, the Cardinals would win a total of five National ...
member
Pat Crawford
William Patrick Anthony Crawford (3 August 1933 – 21 January 2009) was an Australian cricketer who played in four Tests, including one in England at Lord's in 1956 and three in India in 1956–57. He was born in Dubbo, New South Wales ...
and the
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
jurist
Henry Marshall Furman. The
Welsh Neck-Long Bluff-Society Hill Historic District
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, of or about Wales
* Welsh language, spoken in Wales
* Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales
Places
* Welsh, Arkansas, U.S.
* Welsh, Louisiana, U.S.
* Welsh, Ohio, U.S.
* Welsh Basin, during t ...
was 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 ...
in 1974.
Japonica Hall
Japonica Hall, also known as the Major J.J. Lucas House, is a historic home located at Society Hill, South Carolina, Society Hill, Darlington County, South Carolina. It was built in 1896–1897, and is a -story over basement brick residence wit ...
was listed separately in 1989.
Former Governor
David Beasley
David Muldrow Beasley (born February 26, 1957) is an American politician and the former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served one term as the L ...
was from Society Hill and represented the area in the
South Carolina House of Representatives
The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections.
Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...
for almost twenty years.
References
{{authority control
Towns in Darlington County, South Carolina
Florence, South Carolina metropolitan area
Towns in South Carolina