A state historic marker installed in 2023 now identifies the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, where over 20,000 formerly enslaved and free Black people are believed to be buried. (Lenora McQueen)
Most Revolutionary War history buffs know the story of Francis Marion, the Continental Army officer called the Swamp Fox for his guerrilla-style attacks that bedeviled British forces in South Carolina’s backcountry. But volunteers and historians have identified 560 Revolutionary War battle sites and other places of interest with connections to the state’s role in the nation’s founding.
“While we all love Francis Marion, let’s talk about some other people,” said Molly Fortune, executive director of SC250, the commission charged with restoring the public memory of the state’s Revolutionary War legacy. To do that, they’re reviving forgotten historical markers as well as installing new ones and making them all easier to find from the highway or online.
As the United States prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, many states are inventorying, mapping and repairing old historical markers, as well as installing hundreds of new roadside signs, plaques and interpretive panels. In South Carolina, the focus is on sharing lesser-known stories of women, children, Native Americans, enslaved and free Black people and even the Loyalists who sympathized with King George III.