Barnwell County, South Carolina

Barnwell County, South Carolina
Barnwell County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of South Carolina
South Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded	1800
Seat	Barnwell
Largest city	Barnwell
Area
• Total	557 sq mi (1,443 km2)
• Land	548 sq mi (1,419 km2)
• Water	8.9 sq mi (23 km2), 1.6%
Population
• (2010)	22,621
• Density	41/sq mi (16/km²)
Congressional district	2nd
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.barnwellcountysc.us

Barnwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, its population was 22,621. Its county seat is Barnwell.

The Barnwell District was created in 1797 (effective in 1800) from the southwestern portion of the Orangeburg District, along the Savannah River. It was named after John Barnwell, a local figure in the Revolutionary War.

In 1868, under the South Carolina Constitution revised during Reconstruction, South Carolina districts became counties. The government was made more democratic, with county officials to be elected by male citizens at least 21 years old, rather than by the state legislature as done previously.

In 1871 the legislature took the northwestern portion of the county to form part of the new Aiken County, the only county organized during the Reconstruction era. In 1874 the border with Aiken County was adjusted slightly. This county and Barnwell, with populations of blacks and whites that were nearly equal, had extensive violence in the months before the 1874 and 1876 elections, as groups of paramilitary Red Shirts rode to disrupt black Republican meetings and intimidate voters to suppress black voting. More than 100 black men were killed in Aiken County during the violence, especially at Ellenton, South Carolina.

In 1895 white Democrats in the state legislature passed a new constitution, disfranchising most blacks for more than 60 years by raising barriers to voter registration.

In 1897 the eastern third of the county was taken to form the new Bamberg County. In 1919 most of the southern half of the county was taken to form most of the new Allendale County, thus reducing Barnwell county to its present size.