“H” is for Hispanics. Hispanics are among South Carolina’s oldest and most recent immigrant groups. In 1566 Spain established a settlement near present-day Beaufort that served as the capital of the Spanish colony of “La Florida,” but it was abandoned in 1587. The term “Hispanic” and “Latino” apply to a broad category of U.S. residents that include persons of Latin American and/or Spanish ancestry. Following national trends, South Carolina experienced a rise in its Hispanic population in the second half of the twentieth century. New residents of Cuban and Puerto Rican origin began arriving in the 1960s. In the 1970s Colombians, employed in the textile industry, migrated to the upstate. Beginning in the 1990s, large numbers of Mexican and Central American immigrants arrived. In the 2020 census, Hispanics comprised 5.6% of South Carolina’s population.
“H” is for Hispanics
