Capital: Columbia

State Nickname: Palmetto State

State Bird: Carolina Wren

State Flower: Jessamine

Admitted to the Union: May 23, 1788

January 26, 1789 to December 5, 1792:

Charles Pinckney

December 5, 1792 to December, 1794:

William Moultrie

December, 1794 to December, 1796:

Arnold Vander Horst

December, 1796 to December 6, 1798:

Charles Pinckney

December 18, 1798 to January 23, 1800:

Edward Rutledge*

* Died in office

January 23, 1800 to December, 1802:

John Drayton

December, 1802 to December, 1804:

James B. Richardson

December, 1804 to December, 1806:

Paul Hamilton

December, 1806 to December 10, 1808:

Charles Pinckney

December 10, 1808 to December, 1810:

John Drayton

December 10, 1810 to December, 1812:

Henry Middleton

December, 1812 to December, 1814:

Joseph Alston

December, 1814 to December, 1816:

David R. Williams

December, 1816 to December, 1818:

Andrew Pickens

December, 1818 to December, 1820:

John Geddes

December, 1820 to December, 1822:

Thomas Bennett

December, 1822 to December, 1824:

John Lyde Wilson

December, 1824 to December, 1826:

Richard I. Manning

December, 1826 to December, 1828:

John Taylor

December, 1828 to December, 1830:

Stephen D. Miller

December, 1830 to December 13, 1832:

James Hamilton

December 13, 1832 to December 11, 1834:

Robert Y. Hayne

December 11, 1834 to December, 1836:

George McDuffie

December, 1836 to December 10, 1838:

Pierce M. Butler

December 10, 1838 to April 7, 1840:

Patrick Noble*

* Died in office

April 7, 1840 to December 10, 1840:

B. K. Henagan

December 10, 1840 to December, 1842:

John P. Richardson

December, 1842 to December, 1844:

James H. Hammond

December, 1844 to December, 1846:

William Aiken

December, 1846 to December, 1848:

David Johnson

December, 1848 to December, 1850:

Whitmarsh B. Seabrook

December 16, 1850 to December, 1852:

John Hugh Means

December, 1852 to December, 1854:

John Laurence Manning

December, 1854 to December, 1856:

John H. Adams

December, 1856 to December, 1858:

Robert F. W. Alston

December, 1858 to December, 1860:

William H. Gist

December, 1860 to December, 1862:

Franics W. Pickens

December, 1862 to December, 1864:

Milledge L. Bonham

December 20, 1864 to May 25, 1865:

Andrew G. Magrath*

* Last Confederate governor

June 30, 1865 to November 29, 1865:

Benjamin F. Perry*

* Provisional governor

November 29, 1865 to July 6, 1868:

James L. Orr*

* Deposed by act of Congess

July 9, 1868 to December 7, 1872:

Robert K. Scott

December 7, 1872 to December 1, 1874:

Franklin J. Moses, Jr.

December 1, 1874 to April 10, 1877:

Daniel H. Chamberlain*

December 14, 1876 to February 26, 1879::

Wade Hampton*

* There was a major dispute in the 1876 election. For a time, both
Chamberlain and Hampton were governors. Finally, President Hayes ordered
Federal troops to occupy the Capitol to settle the dispute. Chamberlain won

February 26, 1879 to September 1, 1880:

William D. Simpson

* Resigned from office

September 1, 1880 to November, 1880:

Thomas B. Jetter

November 30, 1880 to December, 1882:

Johnson Hagood

December, 1882 to July 10, 1886:

Hugh Smith Thompson*

* Resigned from office

July 10, 1886 to November 30, 1886:

John C. Sheppard

November 30, 1886 to December 4, 1890:

John P. Richardson

December 4, 1890 to December, 1894:

Benjamin Ryan Tillman

December 4, 1894 to January 18, 1897:

John Gary Evans

January 18, 1897 to June 2, 1899:

William H. Ellerbe*

* Died in office

June 2, 1899 to January 20, 1903:

Miles B. McSweeney

January 20, 1903 to January 15, 1907:

Duncan C. Heyward

January 15, 1907 to January 17, 1911:

Martin F. Ansel

January 17, 1911 to January 14, 1915:

Cloleman L. Blease*

* Resigned from office

January 14, 1915 to January 19, 1915:

Charles A. Smith

January 19, 1915 to January 21, 1919:

Richard I. Manning

January 21, 1919 to May 20, 1922:

Robert A. Cooper*

* Resigned from office

May 20, 1922 to January 16, 1923:

Wilson G. Harvey

January 16, 1923 to January 18, 1927:

Thomas G. McLeod

January 18, 1927 to January 20, 1931:

John G. Richards

January 20, 1931 to January 15, 1935:

Ibra C. Blackwood

January 15, 1935 to January 17, 1939:

Olin D. Johnston

January 17, 1939 to November 4, 1941:

Burnet R. Maybank*

* Died in office

November 4, 1941 to February 27, 1942:

Joseph E. Harley

March 2, 1942 to January 19, 1943:

Richard M. Jeffries

January 19, 1943 to January 2, 1945:

Olin D. Johnston*

* Resigned from office

January 2, 1945 to January 21, 1947:

Ransome J. Williams

January 21, 1947 to January 16, 1951:

J. Strom Thurmond

January 16, 1951 to January 18, 1955:

James F. Byrnes

January 18, 1955 to January 20, 1959:

George Bell Timmerman, Jr.

January 20, 1959 to January 15, 1963:

Ernest F. Hollings

January 15, 1963 to April 22, 1965:

Donald S. Russell

April 22, 1965 to January 19, 1971:

Robert E. McNair

January 19, 1971 to January 21, 1975:

John C. West

January 21, 1975 to January 10, 1979:

James Edwards

January 10, 1979 to January 14, 1987:

Richard Riley

January 14, 1987 to January 11, 1995:

Carroll Campbell

January 11, 1995 to January, 1999:

David Beasly

January 13, 1999 to January 15, 2003

James Hovis Hodges

January 15, 2003 –

Mark Sanford

March 4, 1789 – October 25, 1796

Pierce Butler

December 8, 1796 – November 26, 1798

John Hunter

December 6, 1798 – June 6, 1801

Charles Pinckney

December 15, 1801 – December 16, 1810

Thomas Sumter

December 31, 1810 – November 1816

John Taylor

December 4, 1816 – March 3, 1823

William Smith

March 4, 1823 – December 13, 1832

Robert Young Hayne

December 29, 1832 – March 3, 1843

John Caldwell Calhoun * Died in office

April 11, 1850 – May 29, 1850

Franklin Harper Elmore * Died in office

June 4, 1850 – December 8, 1850

Robert Woodward Barnwell

December 18, 1850 – May 7, 1852

Robert Barnwell Rhett, Sr. * Resigned office

May 10, 1852 – March 3, 1853

William Ford De Saussure

March 4, 1853 – May 6, 1858

Josiah James Evans * Died in office

May 11, 1858 – December 2, 1858

Arthur Peronneau Hayne

December 3, 1858 – November 10, 1860

James Chesnut, Jr.

November 10, 1860 – July 15, 1868

Vacant

July 15, 1868 – March 3, 1877

Thomas James Robertson

March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1895

Matthew Calbraith Butler

March 4, 1895 – July 3, 1918

Benjamin Ryan Tillman * Died in office

July 6, 1918 – November 5, 1918

Christie Benet

November 6, 1918 – March 3, 1919

William Pegues Pollock

March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1925

Nathaniel Barksdale Dial

March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1931

Coleman Livingston Blease

March 4, 1931 – July 8, 1941

James Francis Byrnes * Resigned office

July 22, 1941 – August 1, 1941

Alva Moore Lumpkin * Died in office

August 5, 1941 – November 4, 1941

Roger Craft Peace

November 5, 1941 – September 1, 1954

Burnet Rhett Maybank

September 6, 1954 – December 23, 1954

Charles Ezra Daniel * Resigned office

December 24, 1954 – April 4, 1956

Strom Thurmond * Resigned office

April 5, 1956 – November 6, 1956

Thomas Albert Wofford

November 7, 1956 – January 3, 2003

Strom Thurmond

January 3, 2003 –

Lindsey Graham

March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1795

Ralph Izard

March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1795

Jacob Read

March 4, 1801 – October 26, 1802

Jacob Read

March 4, 1801 – October 26, 1802

John Ewing Colhoun * Died in office

November 4, 1802 – November 21, 1804

Pierce Butler * Resigned office

December 6, 1804 – February 26, 1826

John Gaillard * Died in office

March 8, 1826 – November 29, 1826

William Joseph Harper

November 29, 1826 – March 3, 1831

William Smith

March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833

Stephen Decatur Miller

November 26, 1833 – November 29, 1842

William Campbell Preston

December 23, 1842 – August 17, 1846

George McDuffie

December 4, 1846 – May 25, 1857

Andrew Butler

December 7, 1857 – November 11, 1860

James Henry Hammond

November 11, 1860 – July 16, 1868

Vacant

July 16, 1868 – March 3, 1873

Frederick Adolphus Sawyer

March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879

Wade Hampton III

March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1897

John Laurens Manning Irby

March 4, 1897 – May 20, 1897

Joseph Haynsworth Earle * Died in office

June 1, 1897 – March 3, 1903

John Lowndes McLaurin

March 4, 1903 – February 20, 1908

Asbury Latimer * Died in office

March 6, 1908 – March 3, 1909

Frank Boyd Gary

March 4, 1909 – November 17, 1944

Ellison DuRant Smith

November 20, 1944 – January 3, 1945

Wilton Earle Hall

January 3, 1945 – April 18, 1965

Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston * Died in office

April 22, 1965 – November 8, 1966

Donald Stuart Russell

November 9, 1966 – January 3, 2005

Ernest Hollings

January 3, 2005 –

James Warren DeMint

1790: 249,075

1800: 345,591

1810: 415,115

1820: 490,309

1830: 581,904

1840: 594,398

1850: 668,507

1860: 703,708

1870: 705,606

1880: 995,577

1890: 1,151,149

1900: 1,340,316

1910: 1,515,400

1920: 1,683,724

1930: 1,738,765

1940: 1,899,804

1950: 2,117,027

1960: 2,382,594

1970: 2,590,713

1980: 3,121,820

1990: 3,486,703

2000: 4,011,848