803 Area Code 🌍☎️

Columbia, South Carolina is the state capital and second-most populous city in South Carolina with a population of 136,632 as of the 2020 census, serving as the county seat of Richland County and the primary city of the Midlands region. Located northwest of the geographic center of the state at the confluence of the Saluda and Broad Rivers, Columbia was designated the state capital in 1786 due to its central location and first hosted the State Legislature in 1790. The city is historically significant as the site of the 1860 South Carolina Secession Convention, where delegates voted to make South Carolina the first state to secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War. Columbia is home to the University of South Carolina, the state's flagship public university, and hosts major military installations including Fort Jackson, the largest U.S. Army Basic Combat Training facility, and McEntire Joint National Guard Base. The city derives its name from "Columbia," a poetic term for the United States, leading to its nickname "Soda City" from the abbreviated "Cola." Sumter is a city and county seat in Sumter County, South Carolina, located near the state's geographic center, approximately 45 miles west of Columbia and 100 miles south of Charleston, with a 2020 population of 43,463 making it the 9th-most populous city in the state. Originally incorporated as Sumterville in 1845 and renamed Sumter in 1855, the city is named after General Thomas Sumter, the "Fighting Gamecock" of the American Revolutionary War, and served as an important Confederate supply and railroad center during the Civil War. The city grew into a major 20th-century industrial hub following the 1941 opening of Shaw Air Force Base (now home to the 9th Air Force and 20th Fighter Wing), developing strong textile, manufacturing, biotech, and agricultural sectors, while the locally-founded Palmetto Pigeon Plant (established 1923) became one of the world's largest producers of specialty poultry. Sumter's economy expanded further with the establishment of Swiss-based Ems-Chemie's specialty chemistry branch and a thriving medical and retail environment. In September 2024, Sumter and Sumter County were jointly designated a World War II Heritage City by the National Park Service. Rock Hill is South Carolina's most populous city in York County and the state's 5th-largest city, with a 2020 census population of 74,372, located approximately 25 miles south of Charlotte and 70 miles north of Columbia. The city was founded after the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad Company chose to route a line through the area in 1848, with the first passenger train arriving on March 23, 1852, and the first post office opening on April 17, 1852. Rock Hill's early development was driven by three founding families - the Whites, Blacks, and Moores - who granted the railroad right of way through their properties, and the city quickly attracted settlers and merchants including Captain J. H. McGinnis, who built a general store in 1849 or 1850. Today, Rock Hill is home to Winthrop University (founded 1886, enrolling nearly 6,000 students annually), three colleges total, thirty-one parks, historic downtown buildings dating to 1840, and scenic riverfront views along the Catawba River with numerous nature trails and restaurants. During the American Civil War era, York County had 21,800 residents - half enslaved - and contributed fourteen infantry companies with 805 soldiers killed by war's end.