Museum Musings

TODAY IN DARLINGTON COUNTY HISTORY: On September 4, 1950, Johnny Mantz of Long Beach, California, won the first Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C. He drove a 1950 Plymouth Coupe, and his First Place Prize was $11,500. The track had been built under the leadership of Harold Brasington. We here at DCHC are dedicated to promoting […]
This hilly area was once used as burial ground for Union soldiers who died while garrisoned here at the end of the Civil War. We here at DCHC are dedicated to promoting the rich and varied history of Darlington County. So if you enjoy our posts, please Like us on Facebook by clicking here. And, by all […]
Now a private home, this first Methodist Church was built in 1834. During the Civil War, occupying troops were invited to attend the services as women sat on one side of the church and the men sat on the other. The carpenter who built the church later became a Baptist minister. This building served as […]
This site has been the home of a Darlington School since 1818. Originally built as the Darlington Academy, it is now occupied by the St. John’s Elementary School. According to local tradition, an early teacher who was also an ardent Mason named the school for the Apostle St. John who was believed to have belonged […]
At the Commission, there are roughly 750,000 photographs, 50,000 negatives, 1 mile of flat stock documents, and one Bible that is over 373 years old.
Located on Avenue D and Friendship Street in Darlington, the Darlington Memorial Cemetery was the first cemetery created for African-Americans in the community. The cemetery began in 1890 as a five-acre cemetery established by Macedonia Baptist Church and African-American citizens in Darlington. In 1946, Bethel A.M.E. Church and St. James Methodist Church established cemeteries across […]