Jasper County Celebrating 100th anniversary

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) — Jasper County is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head (http://bit.ly/Aqqusf) reports a ceremony was held at the county courthouse marking the occasion.

The county was created in 1912 from sections of Hampton County and Beaufort County.

Residents at the time didn’t like students attending schools in the two different counties or the 70-mile one-way trip to the old county seat in Beaufort. Another 80 square miles of Beaufort County, including Hardeeville, was added to Jasper County in 1951.

Sixteen years after the county was formed voters sent Mary Gordon Ellis to Columbia – the first woman to serve in the South Carolina Senate.

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Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com