Lake City, South Carolina

Lake City, South Carolina
City
Location of Lake City in South Carolina
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
County	Florence
Settled	1736
Area
• Total	4.8 sq mi (12.5 km2)
• Land	4.7 sq mi (12.5 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.9 km2)
Elevation	75 ft (23 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	6,478
• Density	1,364/sq mi (526.6/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	29560
Area code(s)	843
FIPS code	45-39310
GNIS feature ID	1246275
Website	www.lakecitysc.com

Lake City is a city in Florence County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 6,478 at the 2000 census (8,728 total pop. of Lake City Urban Cluster). Located in central South Carolina, it is south of Florence and included as part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Lake City area was originally part of Williamsburg Township, which was first settled by a group of Scots-Irish in 1736. It was first called Graham's Crossroads and then Graham, after Aaron Graham, a land owner around the crossroads that now form Church and Main Streets in Lake City.

In 1856, the Northeastern Railroad built its main line through the area. This brought new growth to the community and on March 4, 1874, after requests from residents, a city charter was granted to the new town of Graham. On December 24, 1883, the town changed its name to Lake City, after the swimming lakes just north of town. This was at the request of the locally-serving Lynches Lake Post Office, since there was another post office in South Carolina known as that.

This small town had a population of 300 in 1893, and by 1898 the area had become the leading strawberry cropland in South Carolina.

Lake City was the site of a notorious lynching on February 22, 1898, that resulted in the mob murders of the city's black postmaster and his infant daughter.

Lake City was at one time called the "Bean Capital of the World," and the Bean Market downtown has now been converted into an event rental and civic center facility. The building was built in 1936 by the Public Works Administration (PWA), and was a central hub for farmers across the South to get their beans to market. The building is listed in the National Register of Historical Places as a contributing property in the Lake City Downtown Historic District. Also listed on the National Register of Historical Places is the W.T. Askins House.

Government

Lake City's city government includes a mayor (elected for a four-year term), an appointed city administrator, and a six-person city council (elected to single-member districts for a four-year staggered term of office. The City's Mayor is Lovith Anderson, Jr. and the City Administrator is Shawn M. Bell.

Economy

Today, Lake City's economy is dominated by tobacco. It even has its own two-day festival in September. This was established in 1898, and has grown to become one of the two largest markets in South Carolina today. By 1932, the town also supported the largest bean market in the world.

Geography

Lake City is located at (33.867697, -79.756153).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12 km²), of which, 4.8 square miles (12 km²) of it is land and 0.21% is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	374		—
1910	1,074		187.2%
1920	1,606		49.5%
1930	1,942		20.9%
1940	2,522		29.9%
1950	5,112		102.7%
1960	6,059		18.5%
1970	6,247		3.1%
1980	6,731		7.7%
1990	7,153		6.3%
2000	6,478		−9.4%
2010	6,675		3.0%
Est. 2014	6,732		0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,478 people, 2,409 households, and 1,705 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,365.0 people per square mile (526.6/km²). There were 2,704 housing units at an average density of 569.8 per square mile (219.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.43% African American, 27.18% White, 0.08% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.10% of the population.

There were 2,409 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were married couples living together, 30.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.4 males.

Ronald McNair

The median income for a household in the city was $22,534, and the median income for a family was $32,111. Males had a median income of $26,316 versus $19,679 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,452. About 26.9% of families and 31.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.0% of those under age 18 and 25.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Derrick Burgess - NFL player with the Oakland Raiders, born: August 12, 1978).

• D.T. Cromer (David Thomas Cromer) was born on March 19, 1971 in Lake City. He made his major league baseball debut on April 5, 2000 for the Cincinnati Reds. Cromer played for the Cincinnati Reds for his entire 2-year career.

• Tripp Cromer (Roy Bunyan Cromer) was born on November 21, 1967 in Lake City. He made his major league baseball debut on September 7, 1993 for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1995, his rookie year, he hit .226 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI. Cromer played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros over the course of his 7-year career.

• Derrick Faison (August 24, 1967 – June 27, 2004) played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams; he died from an undetected heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

• Ronald McNair, (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986), a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, was one of the astronauts killed during the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, mission STS-51-L.

• Darla Moore, a partner of the private investment firm Rainwater, Inc. She is a pioneering woman in the banking industry and a benefactor to many institutions in her home state of South Carolina. At the University of South Carolina, the Moore School of Business is named after her. Along with Condoleezza Rice, she was one of the first two women to be admitted to formerly men-only Augusta National Golf Club.

Attractions

• Moore Farms Botanical Garden

External links

• Lake City Chamber of Commerce