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“A” is for Allendale

“A” is for Allendale (Allendale County; 2020 population 2,953). When trains replaced steamboats, the commercial and social activities of the Buddenville community of southern Barnwell County migrated five miles further from the Savannah River to locate beside the railroad in what would become the town of Allendale. The General Assembly chartered the town in 1873. Town planners laid out boulevard-style streets one hundred feet wide with trees and flowers in the medians. Allendale became the seat of Allendale County with its creation in 1919. As the automobile gained popularity, tourist-related businesses stretched north and south of the town on U.S. Highway 301—a main thoroughfare from the Northeast to Florida. The opening of I-95 that by-passed the town led to a collapse of the tourist industry. Allendale is home to the University of South Carolina’s Salkehatchie campus.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.