DILLON — Dillon County hit the century mark Friday, and not even rain and mud could stop residents from celebrating the occasion.
The county has been around for 100 years, and in honor of the milestone, hundreds gathered for a Centennial Gala behind the historic Dillon County Courthouse in Dillon.
Organizers set up a tent to protect against the rain that soaked the area all day, and in spite of the weather, officials estimate that 200 to 300 people showed up for the event.
For many present, the milestone represents pride in the past and hope for the future.
“It means a lot to most of the people in Dillon County,” Lake View Mayor Robert Smith said. “They’re proud of our county, proud of what it is and what it hopes to become.”
Dr. Daniel W. Blue Jr. said the milestone demonstrates what the county has accomplished in the past.
“It means we have made a lot of progress in Dillon County,” he said, adding that the reason for this is people’s willingness to support one another.
For this same reason, Blue said, he believes the county will be successful in the future.
S.C. Court of Appeals Judge James E. Lockemy, a Dillon County native, share’s Blue’s belief. And he said reaching the 100-year milestone said a lot about the people of the county.
“It means that we have a positive outlook for the future,” Lockemy said.
He also said the fact that more than 200 people showed up for Friday’s event in bad weather is a perfect example of the pride residents have in being from Dillon County.
Dillon County was founded in 1910, taken from a portion of Marion County, according to the county’s Web site, www.dilloncounty.sc.gov/history/. Its municipalities are the county seat, Dillon, Lake View and Latta. Hamer, at the Carolinas border, is home to the Interstate 95 landmark South of the Border, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2009.
The county and the county seat are named for James W. Dillon, an Irishman who settled there, prospered and led a movement to bring in the railroad, according to the county’s Web site. That, in turn, resulted in construction of the Wilson Short Cut Railroad, which later became part of the Atlantic Coastline RR.
Swamps and rivers kept this section of the Pee Dee isolated for many years, but the construction of a railroad in the 19th Century brought increased development, according to the Web site. The residents primarily engaged in cotton and tobacco farming and in timber harvesting.
According to data from the 2000 U.S. Census, S.C. Association of Counties and state Budget and Control Board, 29.2 percent of the county’s the population was employed in manufacturing, 17.2 percent of the population in educational, health and social services, and 11 percent of the population in retail trade. In 2000, the state ranked 32nd among the state’s 46 counties in population with 30,722 residents.
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