Hidden History of Aiken County

Auteur

Dr. Tom Mack is the chair of the English department at USC-Aiken and has been a professor there for more than 20 years. Since 1990, he has written a weekly column for The Aiken Standard. He has received numerous awards for both his teaching and his service to the community. He is a member of the SC Humanities Council.

Texte du rabat

Situated between the mountains and the coast, Aiken County attracted ailing members of the southern planter class once the railroad from Charleston to Hamburg was completed in 1833. After the Civil War, grand hotels and sporting activities drew wealthy northern capitalists south for the winter here. A third era of prosperity came in the 1950s, when the Cold War prompted the construction of a nuclear reservation. Local author Tom Mack uncovers the lesser-known stories behind the major events that shaped the area's colorful past. Meet inventor James Legare, political insider George Croft and singing sensation Arthur Lee Simpkins. Learn about the controversial Graniteville murder of 1876 and how an abdicated king found solace in Aiken in 1936. And discover so many more interesting stories.