Lake City, South Carolina

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.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Notable natives
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

The Lake City area was originally part of Williamsburg Township, which was first settled by a group of Scotch-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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Geography

Lake City is located at 33°52′4″N, 79°45′22″W (33.867697, -79.756153)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.3 km²), of which, 4.8 square miles (12.3 km²) of it is land and 0.21% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] 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/sq mi (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.

Native Son Dr. Ronald McNair memorial.

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.

[edit] Notable natives

Ronald McNair, (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986) was one of the astronauts killed during the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, mission STS-51-L.

Birthplace of: Derrick Burgess - 2005 NFL player (Oakland Raiders, born: Aug 12, 1978).

Derrick Faison (Derrick Faison) was born on August 24, 1967 in Lake City, South Carolina. After going to high school at Lake City (SC), Faison attended Howard University. Faison made his professional debut in the NFL in 1990 with the Los Angeles Rams. He played for the Los Angeles Rams for his entire 1 year career. Faison passed away in 2004 while playing basketball at the age of 36 from an undetected heart condition, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM); the Derrick Faison Foundation was later established to combat HCM and sudden cardiac death and to provide scholarships for underprivileged students.^[4]

Harris Jones (Harris Jones, Jr.) was born on October 3, 1945 in Lake City, South Carolina. After going to high school at Carver (Lake City, SC), Jones attended Johnson C. Smith University. Jones made his professional debut in the NFL in 1971 with the San Diego Chargers. He played for the Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers over the course of his 3 year career.

D.T. Cromer (David Thomas Cromer) was born on March 19, 1971 in Lake City, South Carolina. He made his Major League 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, South Carolina. He made his Major League 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.