South Carolina: Images of the Palmetto State

Alan Taylor
February 9, 2020
33 Photos
In Focus

South Carolina is home to more than 5 million residents, and has a landscape that ranges from the salt marshes and plains of its Low Country to the heights of its Blue Ridge region in the west. Gathered here are a few glimpses into the varied and historic features of South Carolina, and some of the animals and people calling it home.

This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.

An earlier version of this photo essay inadvertently included a photo taken in Charlotte, North Carolina. The photo has been removed.

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The Hunting Island Light, photographed at sunrise, in Hunting Island State Park near Beaufort, South Carolina #

Larry Knupp / Shutterstock

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A stand of pine trees in South Carolina's Francis Marion State Park #

AG Technology Solutions / Shutterstock

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The Clemson Tigers enter Memorial Stadium before a game against the Florida State Seminoles in Clemson, South Carolina, on October 19, 2013. #

Streeter Lecka / Getty

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Pinnacle Mountain, viewed from a nearby ridge, in Table Rock State Park #

Dave Allen Photography / Shutterstock

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Remnants of the 1830s-era Glendale Mill stand on Lawson’s Fork Creek in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Most of the old mill, which was expanded many times, was destroyed in a fire in 1950. #

Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress

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A Charleston DASH trolley drives on historic Broad Street in front of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. #

Sean Xu / Shutterstock

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Historic architecture stands along Rainbow row, a colorful series of 13 Georgian houses in downtown Charleston. #

Christopher Pillitz / Uni Uk / Getty

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An avenue of oaks stands at Stono Preserve, the site of the former Dixie Plantation, in Charleston County. #

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A young boy rides a toy firetruck during the 16th annual Harper Street Parade in Newberry, South Carolina, on July 4, 2018. The event, which began as a small bicycle gathering with less than 30 children, attracted 4,000 people in 2017. #

Sean Rayford / Getty

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Blossoms cover a peach-tree branch in an orchard in South Carolina. #

Kevin M. McCarthy / Shutterstock

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Falls Park on the Reedy, along the Reedy River in the West End district of Greenville #

Cvandyke / Shutterstock

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A view of Lake Jocassee from Jumping Off Rock in Pickens County #

Rob Reid / Shutterstock

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A deer swims in a mountain lake in the Jocassee Gorges Wilderness Area. #

Melissa Grisham / Shutterstock

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Drivers battle for the lead during the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, on September 1, 2019. #

Action Sports Photography / Shutterstock

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Driftwood stands in the surf in Botany Bay on South Carolina's Edisto Island #

Dave Allen Photography / Shutterstock

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A view of Myrtle Beach from the 2nd Avenue Pier, which juts into the Atlantic Ocean #

Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress

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Docks and a small motorboat along Skull Creek at sunrise on Fripp Island, South Carolina #

Jen Wolf / Shutterstock

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A view into one of South Carolina's cypress swamps #

Daniela Duncan / Getty

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An alligator rests on on a fallen tree in Sea Pines Forest Preserve on Hilton Head Island. #

John Dreyer / Getty

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An old cotton gin stands at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. #

Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress

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Cows look toward the camera in a pasture in Inman, South Carolina, in the late summer. #

Page Light Studios / Shutterstock

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A view of the downtown area of historic Inman, South Carolina, in Spartanburg County. #

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The steeple of St. Helena's Episcopal Church stands above the city of Beaufort, on Port Royal Island. #

John Wollwerth / Shutterstock

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A few crumbling former slave cabins still remain along the banks of the Combahee River in rural Beaufort County. Once the heart of the South's large rice plantations, the area was raided by Union gunboats in July of 1863; Harriet Tubman was on one of those gunboats, which helped more than 700 enslaved people escape from nearby plantations. #

Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty

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Fall colors in the city of Camden #

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Dolphins swim off Hilton Head Island #

Melissa Grisham / Shutterstock

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A sunset along Folly Beach, on Folly Island #

Daniela Duncan / Getty

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Visitors play in the fountain of Charleston's historic Waterfront Park. #

John Moore / Getty

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A Revolutionary War reenactor rests with her horse during a re-creation of The Battle of Huck's Defeat at Historic Brattonsville, a living history museum, on July 14, 2018. #

Kevin M. McCarthy / Shutterstock

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Angel Oak, a huge southern live oak estimated to be 400–500 years old, on Johns Island, near Charleston, South Carolina. #

Nagel Photography / Shutterstock

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The sun sets on a salt water marsh in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. #

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The Old Sheldon Church was built as a chapel of ease in the English Georgian style, with Roman Tuscan and Doric elements, in the 1700s in Yemassee, Beaufort County. It was burned during the Revolutionary War and rebuilt in 1826. #

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A view of Harbour Town Marina on Hilton Head Island, shortly after sunset #

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