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.