St. Matthews is a town in Calhoun 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 1,841 at the 2020 census, a decline from 2,021 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. It is 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 ...

of Calhoun County. St. Matthews 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. The town holds an annual Purple Martin festival in April which includes food, music, cars, and more.

History

St. Matthews was established as the township of Amelia by Gov. Robert Johnson in the 1730s. The Col. J.A. Banks House, Buyck's Bluff Archeological Site, Calhoun County Courthouse, Calhoun County Library, Cherokee Path, Sterling Land Grant, Col. Olin M. Dantzler House,

David Houser House David Houser House, also known as Oak Grove, is a historic home located near St. Matthews, Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. It was built in 1829, and is a two-story, rectangular wood frame I-house with a gable roof and stuccoed ...

, Prehistoric Indian Village, and Puritan Farm 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

St. Matthews is located in the center of Calhoun County at (33.664734, -80.778976). U.S. Route 601 passes through the town, leading northeast to Camden and southwest to Orangeburg. South Carolina Highway 6 crosses US 601 in the center of town and leads west to

Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...

and southeast to

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

near Santee. 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 ...

, St. Matthews has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.35%, is water.

Education

Public education in St. Matthews is administered by Calhoun County School District. The district operates St. Matthews K-8 School, Sandy Run K-8 School, and Calhoun County High School. Calhoun Academy, a school founded as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend Racial segregation in the United States, desegregated public schools. They ...

, remains a private institution. St. Matthews 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 ...

, the Calhoun County Public Library. St. Matthews is home to th
Calhoun County Museum
on Butler Street, which is run and directed by Mrs. Roland. The Museum houses countless artifacts and stories of St. Matthews history and character.

Notable people

* Mike Colter, actor *

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning actress * Clarence Felder, actor * Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) and (former) University of South Carolina wide receiver;

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. As a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX from 13 years earlier, the game was between the National Football Conferen ...

champion *

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

, singer, actress, dancer and activist *

Ludwig Lewisohn Ludwig Lewisohn (May 30, 1882 – December 31, 1955) was a novelist, literary critic, the drama critic for ''The Nation'' and then its associate editor. He was the editor of the New Palestine (magazine), New Palestine, an American Zionist jour ...

, writer, critic and poet * Phillip Merling, Miami Dolphins defensive end in the NFL * Harry L. Ott Jr., South Carolina House Representative *

Horace Ott Horace Ott (born April 15, 1933) is an American jazz and R&B composer, arranger, record producer, conductor and pianist. He is noted for his work since the late 1950s with a wide variety of artists, including The Shirelles, Don Covay, Nina Si ...

, musician, orchestral conductor and songwriter * Russell Ott, South Carolina House Representative and lobbyist * James "Blood" Ulmer, jazz and blues guitarist * Othniel Wienges, politician and horse breeder

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,841 people, 943 households, and 531 families residing in the town.

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 2,107 people, 823 households, and 549 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 913 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 37.16%

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 ...

, 61.46%

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 ...

, 0.05% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.14%

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 ...

, 0.38% from other races, and 0.71% 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 1.33% of the population. There were 823 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% 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, 21.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 72.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 66.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $24,969, and the median income for a family was $36,250. Males had a median income of $29,760 versus $21,311 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 $14,911. About 19.5% of families and 24.0% 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 32.8% of those under age 18 and 21.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Calhoun County Museum and Cultural Center

Information about St. Matthews from the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthews, South Carolina Towns in Calhoun County, South Carolina Towns in South Carolina County seats in South Carolina Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina)