Aiken, South Carolina, United States

🇺🇸 Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina, United States. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the South Carolina Railroad. It became part of Aiken County when the county was formed in 1871 from parts of Orangeburg, Lexington, Edgefield, and Barnwell counties.

Aiken is home to the University of South Carolina Aiken. The National Civic League gave Aiken the All-America City Award in 1997. Aiken was also named "best small town of the South" by Southern Living.

History The municipality of Aiken was incorporated on December 19, 1835. The community formed around the terminus of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, a rail line from Charleston to the Savannah River, and was named for William Aiken, the railroad's first president.

During Sherman's March to the Sea in the American Civil War Sherman ordered Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and the cavalry corps he commanded to march through South Carolina. By February 5, they had reached Aiken County. While in Aiken county Kilpatrick fought Joseph Wheeler and his cavalry corps. This battle, called the Battle of Aiken, was a Confederate victory.

Originally it was in the Edgefield District. With population increases, in 1871 Aiken County was organized, made up of parts of neighboring counties. Among its founding commissioners were three African-American legislators: Prince Rivers; Samuel J. Lee, speaker of the state House and the first black man admitted to the South Carolina Bar; and Charles D. Hayne, a free man of color from one of Charleston's elite families.

Aiken was a planned town, and many of the streets in the historic district are named for other cities and counties in South Carolina, including Abbeville, Barnwell, Beaufort, Chesterfield, Colleton, Columbia, Dillon, Edgefield, Edisto, Fairfield, Florence, Greenville, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Marion, Marlboro, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Pendleton, Pickens, Richland, Sumter, Union, Williamsburg and York.

In the late 19th century, Aiken gained fame as a wintering spot for wealthy people from the Northeast. Thomas Hitchcock, Sr. and William C. Whitney established the Aiken Winter Colony. Over the years Aiken became a winter home for many notable people, including George H. Bostwick, James B. Eustis, Madeleine Astor, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Eugene Grace, president of Bethlehem Steel, Allan Pinkerton, and W. Averell Harriman.

Between 1890 and the 1920s, many Jewish immigrants settled in Aiken. The Jewish immigrants were from Eastern Europe, including Russia and Poland. Many were from Knyszyn, Poland. In 1905, a group of Russian-Jewish socialists from New York founded a farming colony in Aiken County that was known as "Happyville". Adath (Adas) Yeshurun (Congregation of Israel) Synagogue was chartered in Aiken in 1921 and the cornerstone was laid in 1925. An historical marker was added to the synagogue in 2014, sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina. In 1903, the Jewish-American peddler Abraham Surasky was the victim of an antisemitic murder that occurred near Aiken.

Savannah River Plant The United States Atomic Energy Commission's selection of a site near Aiken for a plant to produce fuel for thermonuclear weapons was announced on November 30, 1950. Residences and businesses at Ellenton, South Carolina, were bought for use for the plant site. Residents were moved to New Ellenton, which was constructed about eight miles north, or to neighboring towns.

The site was named the Savannah River Plant, and renamed the Savannah River Site in 1989. The facility contains five production reactors, fuel fabrication facilities, a research laboratory, heavy water production facilities, two fuel reprocessing facilities, and tritium recovery facilities.

Historic places • Aiken Golf Club • Aiken Polo Club • Aiken Preparatory School • Aiken Tennis Club • Hopelands Gardens • Old Aiken Post Office • Palmetto Golf Club • Hitchcock Woods • St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church • Whitehall mansion • The Aiken Colored Cemetery, Aiken Mile Track, Aiken Training Track, Aiken Winter Colony Historic District I, Aiken Winter Colony Historic District II, Aiken Winter Colony Historic District III, Chancellor James P. Carroll House, Chinaberry, Coker Spring, Court Tennis Building, Crossways, Dawson-Vanderhorst House, Immanuel School, Joye Cottage, Legare-Morgan House, Phelps House, Pickens House, St. Mary Help of Christians Church, St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, Charles E. Simons, Jr. Federal Court House, Whitehall, and Willcox's are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography Aiken is near the centre of Aiken County. It is 20 miles (32 km) north-east of Augusta, Georgia, along U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 78. Interstate 20 passes 6 miles (10 km) to the north of the city, with access via South Carolina Highway 19 (Exit 18) and US 1 (Exit 22).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 20.8 square miles (54.0 km²), of which 20.7 square miles (53.6 km²) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.4 km²), or 0.68%, is water.

Education: Universities • Aiken Technical College • University of South Carolina at Aiken

Library Aiken has a public library, a branch of the ABBE Regional Library System.

Steeplechase racing The Aiken Steeplechase Association, founded in 1930, hosts the Imperial Cup each March and the Holiday Cup in October, both races sanctioned by the National Steeplechase Association. This event draws more than 30,000 spectators.

The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1977 as a tribute to the famous flat racing and steeplechase thoroughbred horses trained at the Aiken Training Track.

Other events Aiken hosts many polo matches at its numerous polo fields. Other local events include: • Aiken Triple Crown • Aiken's Makin' • Battle of Aiken Reenactment • Bluegrass Festival • Fall Steeplechase • Hops & Hogs • The Lobster Races • Western Carolina State Fair • The Whiskey Road Race • Aiken City Limits (ACL)

Attractions • Aiken Center for Arts, hosts educational classes, a fine arts gallery, and exhibition opportunities • Aiken County Farmers Market, oldest food market in South Carolina • Aiken County Historical Museum, also known as "Banksia" after the banksia rose, displays special exhibits of items from residents • Aiken State Park • Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum, displays the area's thoroughbred history • Aiken Visitors Center and Train Museum, railroad depot has nine dioramas depicting railroad history on the second floor • Center for African American History, Art, and Culture, hosts special events on African American history • DuPont Planetarium and RPSEC Observatory, provides live presentations of stars, constellations, and visible planets • Hitchcock Woods, one of the largest urban forests in the United States, at 2100 acres • Juilliard in Aiken, live artistic performances, classes, lectures, and workshops • Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site, slaves' and owners' lives depicted • Rose Hill Estate, historic housing estate