Our History
Mission Statement and Vision Statement:
The Orangeburg County Historical Society is the caretaker of the history of Orangeburg County, and their Salley Archives houses non-publicly held historical records of the individuals, families, and organizations of the county.
The Salley Archive building is located at the corner of Middleton and Bull Streets and is owned and operated by the Society. The archive was constructed in the 1960’s with seed funds designated by South Carolina’s first archivist and historian, Alex. S. Salley, Jr., who was a native of Orangeburg.
Genealogical files at the archives comprise information on more than 4000 Orangeburg County surnames. Historic documentation files are also maintained with information about the government, buildings, homes, churches, schools, businesses, organizations, and activities of Orangeburgers.
A collection of artifacts and original documents from Orangeburg’s varied past are also housed at the Archives.
Orangeburgh (as it was spelled at the time) Judicial District was formed in 1769 from an unorganized upland area between the Congaree and Savannah Rivers. A county, initially of the same name but later Orange, was organized but disorganized in 1791. The southwest half of Orangeburg District bordering on the Savannah River was separated as Barnwell District in 1800. In 1804 the northern third of the county was separated and formed Lexington District.
In 1868, under the revised state constitution, South Carolina districts became counties, with officials elected by the resident voters rather than by state officials. A small western portion of the county was annexed to Aiken County in 1871.
In 1908 a northern portion of the county along the Congaree River was divided and helped form Calhoun County. A small western portion of Berkeley County, southeast of Holly Hill was annexed in 1910, bringing the county to its present size. The City of Orangeburg, or originally Orangeburgh, was one of eleven townships created by the governing body of Charles Town. Lt. Governor Thomas Broughton named the settlement in honor of William IV, Prince of Orange.
The original township, along the banks of the Edisto River, was 20,000 acres in size. The earliest settler families were given an incentive of 50 acres per head and provisions for one year before departing from Charles Town. The first groups of German and Swiss settlers arrived in 1735 and made homes among a few settlers who had come earlier and the native Indian tribes.
The center of town as designed in 1735 was a Public Square bounded by today’s streets of Windsor, Bull, Middleton, and Waring, however, the town grew to be centered six blocks east at Middleton & Russell Sts. The Salley Archives of the Historical Society is located on the original square near where the first church building stood.
