Orangeburg County: Gardens, Culture and Lake Marion
Accommodation in Orangeburg County
Orangeburg County combines impressive gardens along the Edisto River with museums, historic sites and landscapes around Lake Marion. Those planning a trip to South Carolina can choose between cultural discoveries, regional history and nature experiences here. When searching for a suitable vacation rental or holiday home, the desired mix of activities for your days away is particularly important.
Gardens, River Landscapes and Lake Marion
The Edisto Memorial Gardens extend along the Edisto River across more than 150 acres. The gardens, wetlands and riverside green spaces include around 4,800 rose plants representing more than 120 identified varieties. The Orangeburg Festival of Roses has also been held there since 1972. This makes the grounds not only a destination for a walk through planted areas, but also a place with its own regional event tradition.
Lake Marion offers different highlights. Santee State Park is located on the western shore of the lake in southeastern Orangeburg County and has two boat ramps with private access to Lake Marion. Also in the southeast, near Eutaw Springs on the lake’s southern shore, is the Santee Cooper Wildlife Management Area. The Eutaw Springs Passage is a 21.3-mile easy hiking trail. A branch leads through the Santee-Cooper Wildlife Management Refuge to the southern shores of Lake Marion.
When choosing your accommodation, you can therefore first decide whether gardens and culture or water landscapes and trails should be the main focus. The respective attractions can then help you choose the location of a vacation rental or holiday home based on the experiences you have planned, without limiting your stay to just one type of trip.
Museums of Art, History and Civil Rights
The I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium is a combined art museum and planetarium on the campus of a historically Black college. Its collections include African American art and artifacts as well as fine art and photography. In addition, there is a 40-foot planetarium with 82 seats and 20 scientific planetarium shows. This makes a visit particularly varied if you would like to combine visual art and scientific topics.
The South Carolina Civil Rights Museum covers civil rights events in South Carolina. A virtual tour is devoted exclusively to this subject area. The museum receives visitors by prior appointment only; you should take this into account when planning your day. The Elloree Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, by contrast, focuses on the rural past of South Carolina. It presents rural life at the time of Elloree’s founding, while a reconstruction of Cleveland Street shows what it looked like in 1900, with shops, a bank and a hotel. At a plantation, you can also explore a historic cotton gin and learn how cotton is grown, picked and ginned.
Those interested in family history will find historical records on individuals, families and organizations from Orangeburg County in the Salley Archives. The genealogical information includes more than 4,000 surnames from the county. Other cultural points of interest include the Bluebird Theatre, which hosts performances by the Orangeburg Part-Time Players, and the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center, which presents performances by artists from the region.
History and Regional Events
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was one of the last battles in South Carolina. The Eutaw Springs Battlefield preserves part of the site of the last battle of the American Revolutionary War. Together with the Eutaw Springs Passage, it creates an excursion theme that combines historical exploration with a landscape experience.
The Orangeburg County Fair has highlighted local agriculture and promoted young people’s involvement in their communities since 1911. The annual program includes local vendors, musical performances, rides and activities for all age groups. If you would like to include regional traditions and events in your trip, it is worth checking the relevant dates. The Orangeburg County Historical Society is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; it is closed from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
More Places to Include in Your Planning
Glover Street Landing is an access point to the Edisto North Fork Blueway in downtown Orangeburg at the US 301/601 bridge. For further orientation, you can also visit the pages for Orangeburg and Santee. This allows you to combine your search for a vacation rental or holiday home with the cultural, historical and scenic highlights that are of particular interest to you during your stay.
To the higher-level travel overview: South Carolina.
More Destinations
More places within the same destination:
