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"P" is for the Palmetto Armory

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"P" is for the Palmetto Armory. The Palmetto Armory was a short-lived effort to establish a weapons-manufacturing capability in South Carolina during the secession crisis of 1849-1852. In 1850, following Governor Whitemarsh B. Seabrook's recommendation, the General Assembly created a Board of Ordnance and appropriated $350,000 for weapons and munitions. The Board contracted with the Armory to produce muskets, rifles, pistols, and cavalry sabers—all of which were to be of current US Army pattern. But, they to be manufactured wholly within the state. There is evidence, however, that some components were manufactured elsewhere. Production ceased when the contract expired in 1853. The Armory was then converted into the Palmetto Iron Works. During the Civil War, the Armory was unsuccessful in obtaining Confederate Army contracts and produced only a few artillery projectiles. The Palmetto Armory was burned during Sherman's occupation of Columbia.

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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.