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Anderson County and its county seat, Anderson, were named for Revolutionary War general Robert Anderson (1741-1812). This region was occupied by the Cherokee Indians until 1777, when it was ceded by treaty to the state. Part of the "Indian Land" became Pendleton District (also called Washington District at one time.) The area was given its present name in 1826, when Pendleton District was split into Anderson and Pickens. Most of the early settlers of this area were Scotch-Irish farmers who moved south from Pennsylvania and Virginia in the eighteenth century. The oldest town in the county is Pendleton, which was founded around 1790; it became a popular summer resort for lowcountry planters in the nineteenth century. Some famous residents of Anderson County were United States senator and governor Olin D. Johnston (1896-1965), business leader Charles E. Daniel (1895-1964), and composer Lily Strickland (1884-1958). |
