Florence

Formed January 1, 1888 (35^th county)

Florence County (137,064), Florence (39,950)

The Modern concrete skyscraper was erected in 1972.  The courthouse is at Irby and Baroody streets.  United States Highway 52 is Irby Street.  Gill & Wilkins are the structure designers.  There have been two earlier versions in Florence, 1892 and 1936.  The county was founded on January 1, 1888 from parts of Clarendon, Darlington, Marion, and Williamsburg counties as the 35^th county with Florence as the only county seat.  A Judicial Center was added across the street in 2018.  The county and its county seat are named for Florence Harllee, the daughter of a railroad entrepreneur. 

Florence County government consists of a director, a sheriff, a treasurer, a coroner, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 9 Council Members (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge and Four Family Court Judges serve Florence and Marion counties (judicial.)  Florence County is in eastern South Carolina.  Columbia, South Carolina is west and Charleston, South Carolina is southwest of the county.  The county center is 10.6 miles South-Southeast of Florence nearer Effingham.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Marlboro, Dillon, Marion, Williamsburg, Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, and Darlington counties. 

The area of the county is 804 square miles.  It is 12 out of 46 in the state.  It ranks 13 out of 46 in population in the state.  It has a density of 170.5 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 46 in the state.  Florence County has 39.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 20 originates in the county and heads west into Darlington County.  Interstate Highway 95 crosses northeast to southwest from Dillon County to Sumter County.  United States Highway 52 comes from Darlington County, northwest, and goes into Williamsburg County, southeast.  United States Highway 76 enters from the east, Marion County, and exits to the west, Lee County.  United States Highway 301 is joined with United States Highway 76 from Marion County, splits and goes into Sumter County.  The county looks like a tornado cloud bending from the northwest to the southeast.  The City of Florence is located near the northwest border of the county.  Florence is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area.