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South Carolina A to Z
South Carolina from A to Z

“S” is for Saxe-Gotha Township

By Walter Edgar
Published November 27, 2023 at 5:30 AM EST

“S” is for Saxe-Gotha Township. Originally laid out in 1733 as Congaree Township, Saxe-Gotha Township was located southwest of the confluence of the Broad and Saluda Rivers. Names to honor the marriage of the then Prince of Wales to Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, the settlement contained “few” if “any” Germans from Saxe- Gotha. German-speaking Swiss in Charleston petitioned for and received land grants in February 1735. In 1747 and 1748 a settler returned to Europe promoting Saxe-Gotha. He succeeded in enticing some six hundred Palatines and Wurttembergers to the township. Other immigration agents brought in another fifteen hundred Germans so that by 1750 the township was populated with a mix of German-speaking small farmers and redemptioners (indentured servants). In 1785 Saxe-Gotha Township’s name was changed to Lexington County to honor the patriots of Massachusetts.

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Walter Edgar
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.
See stories by Walter Edgar