Around Walterboro

Walterboro is the county seat of Colleton County South Carolina. It was founded in 1784 by rice growers looking for a location for summer homes. During that time living near the rice paddies in the summertime was dangerous due to Malaria mosquitoes. It was originally named Hickory Valley and then renamed Walterboro after two of its original founders. In 1817 it became th county seat and was incorporated as a city in 1826. In addition it has been a part of historyand a backdrop for movies. Nearby Lowcountry Regional Airport was formally known as Walterboro Army Airfield, where the Tuskegee Airmen trained. They were the black pilots that formed a very successful fighter squadron during WWII, and were beloved, eventually, by bomber crews for not losing one bomber during their escort of them.
The movies Radio and Forrest Gump both had scenes filmed in the area. Radio was mostly shot on location her since Anderson SC, where it actually occurred had lost its seventies feel. The football stadium and practice field, as well as Radio’s church were a part of our Monday tour of the town.
The town has a beautiful old downtown area that retains a lot of its old ambiance, including Hyatt’s Drugstore with an old fashioned soda fountain. It does have a Walmart and a freeway nearby, which does give it more commercial appeal than our hometown of Newberg.