St. George, South Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. George is a town in Dorchester County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,092 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 World Grits Festival
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

St. George is located at 33°11′13″N, 80°34′42″W (33.186849, -80.578256)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.9 km² (2.7 mi²), all land.

[edit] World Grits Festival

In the mid 1980's, town leaders wanted to create a yearly festival for the city. After a search of possible festivals, local grocery store owner John Walters discovered from the Quaker grits people that the upper part of Dorchester County (of which Saint George is located) consumes more grits per capita than any other place in the world. The Worlds Grits Festival was then created and has been held each year since. During the festival, which takes place in mid April, close to 30,000 people flock to the tiny town for food, music, and games.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,020,092 people, 804 households, and 2 families residing in the town. The population density was 301.4/km² (779.7/mi²). There were 928 housing units at an average density of 133.7/km² (345.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 21.20% White, 77.23% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population.

There were 804 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 19.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,651, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $27,639 versus $19,957 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,389. About 14.2% of families and 18.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 25.2% of those age 65 or over.