Lancaster County, South Carolina

Lancaster County is a located in the  of. In 2000, its population was 61,351; in 2005, the population was estimated to have reached 63,113. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,438 (555 ). 1,422 km² (549 sq mi) of it is land and 16 km² (6 sq mi) of it (1.13%) is water. It is bound on the west by the Catawba River and Sugar Creek,and on the east by the Lynches River. It is so conveniently located that a 3 hour drive takes residents to either the mountains or the oceanside.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - west
 * - northwest

Early History
Many of the early settlers came to South Carolina from. They had named their county for their home in, the region of the famous which had opposed the House of York in the struggles of 1455-85, known as the War of the Roses. The House of Lancaster chose the red rose as their emblem while their neighbor,, boasts the white rose.

The claimed all the present Lancaster County when the first pioneers came in the early 1750's and settled between  and. within this area had taken its name from the Waxhaw Indian tribe. The majority of the new settlers were Scots-Irish from ; others from and  joined them. A second settlement was made in the lower part of the present Lancaster County on. The first grant was made there in 1752, and included the huge overhanging mass of rock from which the creek takes it's name. About the time this section was opened up, others came in and settled along, Little Lynches creek, , , and lower. In coming to the Lancaster area, the first settlers had to follow old Indian paths, which became traveled so frequently, they were coming to be known as roads.

The is an old route that originated as an Indian path. Along there in the, Colonel Abraham Buford fled from Tarleton and was overtaken a few miles south of the N.C. state line. Today, the Rocky River Road is part of South Carolina Highway 522, the latter following the old thoroughfare very closely.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 61,351 people, 23,178 households, and 16,850 families residing in the county. The was 43/km² (112/sq mi). There were 24,962 housing units at an average density of 18/km² (46/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 71.03%, 26.86% or , 0.22% , 0.27% , 0.02% , 0.89% from , and 0.71% from two or more races. 1.59% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 23,178 households out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.60% were living together, 15.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 30.30% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 12.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,688, and the median income for a family was $40,955. Males had a median income of $30,176 versus $22,238 for females. The for the county was $16,276. About 9.70% of families and 12.80% of the population were below the, including 16.50% of those under age 18 and 15.80% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents/natives

 * Birthplace of the Seventh President of the United States.
 * First appointed African-American City Manager, Kansas City, MO.
 * Astronaut and moon-walker.
 * Actress and Broadway star.
 * Surgeon known as the "Father of Modern Gynecology" Dr..
 * Former Governor of South Carolina.
 * Sprinter and Olympic Gold Medalist.
 * Country Music Singer.
 * Professional football player.
 * Professional football player.
 * R&B vocal group The Zodiacs, led by.