Cheraw History

river, and St.David's church was used by both armies as a

hospital.

Cheraw was the head of navigable waters on the Great Pee Dee and was thus the shipping center for a wide area. Corn,

tobacco, rice and indigo were grown in the more fertile surrounding lands and cattle raising, with related tanning and curing

industries, was a major source of income. Prior to the Confederate War, both the largest cotton market between Georgetown

and Wilmington, and the largest bank in South Carolina outside of Charleston were located here.

The first bridge across the Pee Dee and the advent of steamship service to Cheraw in the 1820's led to a golden age, and

numerous buildings from this period still grace Cheraw's streets. A serious fire destroyed most ot the business district in

1835, but by the end of the 1850's Cheraw was a prosperous, secure town which served as a regional center of town which

served as regional center of business, education, culture and religion.

Citizens of Cheraw played a leading role in South Carolina's secession, and the town became a haven for refugees and a

storage place for valuables and military stores during the Confederate War, In March of 1865, Cheraw played unwilling host

to more of Gen. William T. Sherman's Union troops than any other South Carolina city. They found Cheraw "a pleasant town

and and old one with the southern aristocratic bearing", and amazingly they left it that way. Although the business district

was destroyed in an accidental explosion, no public buildings or dwellings were burned, However, the County Courthouse in

Chesterfield was burned, and exact dates on many Cheraw buildings are unknown.

Prosperity began to return by 1900 and many fine Victorian and Revival buildings are still in evidence here. Cheraw in the

1960's began to diversify her industrial base, and today Cheraw is a prosperous town that takes pride in preserving her past

while planning for the future. For more information about the area's Spring Festival in April, lodging, restaurants, retirement,

antiques, shopping, golf, the historic district, Old St. David's Church or Cheraw State Park, please contact the Cheraw Visitor's

Bureau or the Greater Cheraw Chamber of Commerce on the back of the Town Green.