839 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." Newberry is a city in Newberry County, South Carolina, located 43 miles northwest of Columbia in the Piedmont region, with a 2020 population of 10,691 residents. The city was officially chartered in 1894 and became the county seat when Newberry County was formed from the Ninety-Six District in 1789, though it was originally called Newberry Courthouse. European settlement began in the 1750s with primarily German, Scots-Irish, and English immigrants, and the town developed into a thriving trade center following the arrival of the railroad in 1851. Newberry is home to Newberry College, a private liberal-arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The city officially became incorporated in 1976, covering a total area of 6.6 square miles. Barnwell is the county seat of Barnwell County, South Carolina, located along U.S. Route 278 approximately 17 miles south of Allendale and 42 miles northwest of Augusta, Georgia, with a 2020 census population of 4,652. The city sits east of Barnwell County's center near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Salkehatchie River, and lies just 6 miles east of the Savannah River Site nuclear reservation accessible via SC Highway 64. According to the 2020 census, Barnwell's population has declined from 5,035 in 2000, with a median age of 36.6 years and 100% of residents classified as rural. The city experiences significant economic challenges, with a 2000 median household income of $26,722 and approximately 22% of the population living below the poverty line. Barnwell hosts The Sundial Festival, a two-day annual event established by the Happy Club in 2019 at the Barnwell Circle on Main Street.