Newberry

Formed January 1, 1785 (16^th county)

Newberry County (37,722), Newberry (10,707)

The dark red brick Neo Classical Revival courthouse was built in 1908 to replace an 1849 structure.  It is sited on College Street at Boyce Street.  College Street is United States Highway 76 Business in this part of the town.  Frank P. Milburn & Company are the architects.  The building has been enlarged and an Annex was purchased in 2000 to support the courthouse.  The courthouse features columns.  Newberry County was created on January 1, 1785 as the 16^th county with Newberry as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for American Revolutionary War Captain John Newberry.  Newberry County is the birthplace for 2 South Carolina Governors, James H. Hammond and Coleman L. Blease. 

Newberry County government consists of a sheriff and 7 Council Members.  Three Circuit Court Judges and Two Family Court Judges serve Newberry, Abbeville, Greenwood, and Laurens counties.  Newberry County is in western South Carolina.  Columbia, South Carolina is southeast and Greenville, South Carolina is northwest of the county.  The county center is 3.4 miles North-Northeast of Newberry.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Union, Fairfield, Richland, Lexington, Saluda, Greenwood, and Laurens counties. 

The area of the county is 647 square miles.  It is 25 out of 46 in the state.  It ranks 27 out of 46 in population in the state.  It has a density of 58.3 persons per square mile making it 27 out of 46 in the state.  Newberry County has 36.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 26 crosses the county northwest to southeast from Laurens County to Lexington County.  United States Highway 76 parallels Interstate Highway 26 from Laurens to Lexington counties.  United States Highway 176 enters from Union County, north, and exits into Richland County, southeast.  The county looks like an airplane flying west.  The City of Newberry is located near the center of the county.  Newberry is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 28.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Newberry Micropolitan Statistical Area.