Lancaster County, South Carolina

Lancaster County, South Carolina
Lancaster County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of South Carolina
South Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded	1785
Seat	Lancaster
Largest city	Lancaster
Area
• Total	555 sq mi (1,437 km2)
• Land	549 sq mi (1,422 km2)
• Water	6.0 sq mi (16 km2), 1.1%
Population (est.)
• (2016)	89,594
• Density	140/sq mi (54/km²)
Congressional district	5th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	mylancastersc.org

Lancaster County /ˈleɪŋkəstər/ is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2016 census estimate, its population was 89,594. Its county seat is Lancaster which has an urban population of 23,979. The county was created in 1785.

Lancaster County is included in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located in the Piedmont region.

For hundreds of years the Catawba Indians claimed all of present Lancaster County as part of their tribal lands. The Catawba were once considered one of the most powerful Southeastern Siouan-speaking tribes. The Catawba and other Siouan peoples are believed to have coalesced as individual tribes in the Southeast. Primarily involved in agriculture, the Catawba were friendly toward early European Immigrants.

When the first White people came in the early 1750s they settled between Rum Creek and Twelve Mile Creek. Waxhaw Creek within this area had taken its name from the Waxhaw Indian tribe. The majority of the new settlers were Scots-Irish from Pennsylvania; others from North Carolina and Virginia joined them.