Great Falls, South Carolina
Encyclopedia
Great Falls is a town in Chester County
Chester County, South Carolina
Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 34,068; in 2005 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that its population had dropped to 33,228. Its county seat is Chester.-Geography and climate:...

, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 2,194 at the 2000 census.

Geography and climate

Great Falls is located at 34°34′15"N 80°54′1"W (34.570912, -80.900238).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), of which, 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (3.19%) is water.

Culture

The town of Great Falls hosts an annual Flopeye Fish Festival.

Great Falls was a thriving metropolis and a real boomtown in the early 1900s. It was founded on the old US 21 peddler's route from Charleston to the mountains of North Carolina and beyond, The trade route of its time.

After a hydroelectric plant was built and was powering the first of three cotton mills, the 'company sto' near the plant provided the workers with everything that they could possibly need ... at whatever price they felt like they could get, and simply deducted that from the workers' wages. Up the road, or 'down,' depending on your perspective, a merchant (who may have been named Andy Morrison) who had a lazy, or drooping, eyelid(s), would laze around his store, selling many of the same items at lower prices, of course. The company tried to discourage its workers from trading with 'that old flopeyed man' down the road. However, people liked his prices, and seemed to genuinely like old 'Flopeye.' They built up a separate business area, and a surrounding village in the area around Flopeye.

There were, and still are, two separate and distinct business areas in Great Falls. Downtown, where the Company Store was located, also has a bank (now gone), post office, theater ("The Falls," also gone), and many others. Flopeye, separated by a road winding past beautiful Republic Park, has a football stadium (home of the 1934 State Champs with noted Banks McFadden
Banks McFadden
Banks McFadden was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959. McFadden attended Great Falls High School in South Carolina, where he led the Red Devils to two state championships in football and one in basketball...

), churches, and the local school.

Notable residents

  • Cal Cooper, a Major League Baseball pitcher, was born in Great Falls in 1922.
  • John Smith - John Smith is the head coach of the Great Falls High School basketball team. He has been coaching the team for over 40 years and currently holds the record for most wins by any coach in South Carolina High School basketball history. In his tenure, which continues to this day, Smith has led the team to 7 State Championship victories, and over 800 total victories.
  • Banks McFadden
    Banks McFadden
    Banks McFadden was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959. McFadden attended Great Falls High School in South Carolina, where he led the Red Devils to two state championships in football and one in basketball...

    -All-American football player attended Great Falls High School in the 1930's. Lead the school to two basketball and one football championship.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,194 people, 892 households, and 595 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 516.8 people per square mile (199.3/km²). There were 1,041 housing units at an average density of 245.2 per square mile (94.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 71.01% White, 27.94% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.36% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.

There were 892 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,758, and the median income for a family was $31,683. Males had a median income of $27,336 versus $22,070 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $13,266. About 16.4% of families and 18.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.9% of those under age 18 and 20.4% of those age 65 or over.

External links

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