SOUTH CAROLINA THE PALMETTO STATE South South Carolina is filled with natural beauty It has long sandy beaches blackwater swamps green forestlands and towering mountains It is also known for music festivals golf courses and sweetgrass basket weaving The state's people treasure their traditions and Southern charm They especially love Southern recipes from boiled peanuts and deep fried hush puppies to shrimp and grits with hot sauce on everything The palmetto is the state tree A type of palm they grow by the thousands in the sandy coastal flatlands of South Carolina Their trunks are soft They bend in the strong storms that sometimes blow in from the Atlantic Ocean During the Revolutionary War soldiers made coastal forts out of the trunks of palmetto trees British cannonballs did little damage to the sturdy trees Today South Carolina is nicknamed The Palmetto State Vacationers enjoy a sunrise walk at Myrtle Beach The wide white beaches and warm ocean water make South Carolina's coast a popular tourist destination SOUTH CAROLINA 4
Palmetto trees line a street In Charleston South carolina
SOUTH CAROLINA QUICK FACTS Name South Carolina is named after England's King Charles I 1600 1649 The word Carolina is a form of the word Carolus which is a way of writing Charles in Latin State Capital Columbia population 133 803 Date of Statehood May 23 1788 8th state Population 4 896 146 23d most populous state Area Total Land and Water 32 020 square miles 82 931 sq km 40h largest state Largest City Columbia population 133 803 Nickname The Palmetto State Motto Dum Spiro Spero While I breathe I hope State Bird Carolina Wren State Flower Yellow Jessamine SOUTH CAROLINA
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA State Stone Blue Granite Blue Granite State Tree Palmetto State Songs Carolina and South Carolina on My Mind Highest Point Sassafras Mountain 3 560 feet 1 085 m Palmetto Lowest Point Atlantic Ocean 0 feet 0 m Average July High Temperature 91°F 33°C Sassafras Mountain Record High Temperature 113°F 45°C in Columbia on June 29 2012 Average January Low Temperature 33°F 1°C Atlantic Ocean Record Low Temperature 19°F 28°C on Caesars Head on January 21 1985 Average Annual Precipitation 47 inches 119 cm Number of U S Senators 2 Number of U S Representatives 7 Andrew Jackson Sheetings from U S Presidents Born in South Carolina Andrew Jackson ATM U S Postal Service Abbreviation SC QUICK FACTS