A Walking Tour of Cheraw, South Carolina
Sitting at the head of navigation on the Pee Dee River, this has long been a place of desirable habitation. The first residents were the Cheraw and Pee Dee Indians whose numbers were greatly reduced by disease by the 1730s. European settlers - mostly English, Scots, French or Irish - were populating the region by that time and in 1750 Cheraw was one of six places in South Carolina that appeared on English maps.
Joseph and Eli Kershaw came to the area in the 1760s and obtained a land grant for much of present-day Cheraw. They formally laid out the street system with borad thoroughfares and a town green.They called the town “Chatham” after William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, but the name never seemed to take and was just as often referred to as “Cheraw,” the dominant rribe along the upper Pee Dee River who maintained a well-fortified village here. When the town was officially incorporated in 1820, Cheraw became the official name.
By that time steamships began to ply th ePee Dee River and the town was launched into a golden age. Corn, tobacco, rice and indigo passed across the wharves. The cotton market in Cheraw was the largest between Georgetown and Wilmington. Many of the town’s landmark buildings today date to that era, despite a fire that swept through the business district in 1835. By the time of the Civil War Cheraw was a prosperous river town that served as the regional center of buisness, education, culture and religion. During th ewar th etown became a haven for refugees and a storage place for valuables and military stores. In the last months of the conflict, with William Tecumseh Sherman marching north from Savannah to join Union troops in North Carolina, more federal troops occupied Cheraw than any other South Carolina town. Aside from an accidental explosion, however, no public buildigns or dwellings were destroyed.
Today’s Cheraw streetscape blends antebellum housing stock with Victorian and Revival buildings from the beginning of the 20th century. Our walking tour will begin on the original town green from two-and-one-half centuries ago, at the statue of Cheraw’s most illustrious citizen. Few towns have ever sent such an enthusiastic and recognizable emissary into the world...
Get this tour without an e-Reader - GET THIS TOUR FROM SMASHWORDS
Own a Kindle? Get this tour for your reader for only $.99 - BUY THIS KINDLE BOOK NOW
Get this tour for your iPad - IBOOKSTORE
Want this tour in printed form? - BUY Look Up, South Carolina!: Walking Tours of 12 Towns In The Palmetto State
From time to time we get books back that have been damaged in shipping. We are offering some for sale for just $5 each - more than 70% off retail. These books are brand new; usually with a slightly dented corner - they look like a book would look after your first tour. Buy this tour USED in LOOK UP, SOUTH CAROLINA!
Follow The Tour Back Home