© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"G" is for Gaffney

South Carolina from A to Z logo

"G" is for Gaffney [Cherokee County; population 12,968]. In 1804 an Irish immigrant, Michael Gaffney bought land in the area and constructed a house, barns, a store, and a tavern. The property, variously known as Gaffney's Cross Roads or Gaffney's Old Field, became a local gathering place, but failed to compete with nearby Limestone Springs. In the early 1870s, Michael Gaffney’s widow, Mary, lured the Southern Railway to her property with the promise of free right-of-way from the Cross Roads to the Broad River. Seven hundred acres of her land was then laid out in town lots and in 1875, the town was incorporated. In 1896 local residents joined with those of nearby Limestone Springs to petition for the creation of a new county. The result was Cherokee County with Gaffney as its county seat.

Stay Connected
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.