CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR CODE RED
Contact us
Cherokee County logo
Contact us
Cherokee County logo
services_01-1
services_01-2

The Story

The story of Cherokee County, South Carolina, is one of transition, growth and tremendous opportunity.

It’s a story of hard work, close community and forging through challenges to the higher peaks on the other side. It’s the story of our home.

The county was created in 1897, made up of parts of Union, Spartanburg and York counties. It’s named for the Cherokee Indians, who called this land home long before European settlers.

Those settlers brought with them perseverance and tenacity and fierce independence. It’s no wonder the county today is home to two significant Revolutionary War sites – Cowpens National Battlefield, where Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan won a decisive victory over British Lt. Col. “Bloody” Banastre Tarleton in January 1781; and Kings Mountain National Military Park, where patriots in October 1780 won a victory that Thomas Jefferson considered “the turn of the tide of success.”

Militia used the 330-mile Overmountain Victory Trail, which travels through Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, during the Kings Mountain campaign. Today, residents and visitors alike can trace part of that route along the 6.7-mile trail around Lake Welchel.

These revolutionary moments are just the first in a series of transitions that have made our community stronger.

The booming iron industry in the 1700s and 1800s eventually gave way to railroad construction in the late 1800s. By the turn of the century, the first peach crops were being harvested, which later helped Cherokee County weather the Great Depression. Textile mills began providing jobs in the early 1900s, and the burgeoning interstate system helped diversify the county’s industrial and retail base in the 1960s.

We are focused on our future, together.

We hope to live up to the high standards you deserve from a local government. Please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Click below to view the plan that will take us into the future.

Download PDF

Visit Cherokee County

Wonderful restaurants, beautiful greenways and waterways, historic Revolutionary War landmarks, lively commerce community, and even more to come. Learn more about what Cherokee County has to offer by clicking below.

Our Vision

In August 2020, the county embarked on an ambitious 17-year planning process called, “Cherokee County: A Clear Vision.” With this, we are focusing on the next generation of industry and business, recreation, the new and existing transportation and other infrastructure that keeps us all connected in an increasingly busy world. We are focusing on telling our story, so that others can share in the pride we feel for our home.