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Aiken's proximity to the Sandhills region and the low country makes the climate relatively temperate in comparison to the cooler piedmont region upstate.  Aiken's average annual temperature is 63 degrees F with an average rainfall of 43 inches.  July & August temperatures average 85 F and December averages 48 F.  Snow is seldom seen and rarely stays on the ground more than a day.

 HISTORY

William Aiken, president of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company had a railroad built from Charleston to the Savannah River.  Two surveyors were assigned to design the route and at the time, the major landowner in the area on a plantation known as Chinaberry had 3 beautiful daughters and one of the surveyors fell in love with one of these daughters.  The landowner agreed to his daughters hand in marriage provided the train came through his land which is now Aiken.  Work began in 1830 and in 1833, the first train arrived in the newly established town of Aiken, in honor of the first railroad president.  Designers laid the town out with the wide streets and parkways we enjoy today.  Aiken attracted many visitors, especially wealthy Charlestonians who spent their summers at the "place of retreat from the heat and malaria of unhealthier regions." 

Aiken made little commercial progress until 1845 when William Gregg built a nearby village and the first cotton mill in the south. The mill and the town were called Graniteville because much of both were constructed from local granite. Gregg was convinced that the South's road to progress lay in industrial development and particularly in spinning and weaving cotton. The first cloth came off the looms in 1848 and since then the plant has operated continuously. 

In 1865, as the Civil War neared a conclusion,  The Graniteville Company was a target of Sherman because it was a mill where confederate uniforms were made.  Sherman planned to burn this mill and continue on to Augusta where munitions were made and burn that as well.  Confederate General Wheeler took his position in Aiken to oppose Sherman's raid and this put an end to the Union advance west.  This was one of Sherman's rare defeats. 

Industry increased as kaolin (a type of chalky white clay) mining was begun by Southern Porcelain Manufacturing Company in nearby Bath in 1856 and this is still a significant industry in the area.  Kaolin is used medically to treat diarrhea, dysentary, cholera and is also used in paper making, paint, fiberglass, porcelains and ceramics, china and toothpaste.  Some popular products made with kaolin are Kaopectate, Rolaids, Di-gel, Mylanta and Maalox.

As the years progressed many visitors of wealth and culture came to winter and established residences in Aiken. The Golden Era for the winter colony began in 1890's when Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock began to lure their New York friends to the resort. They built magnificent homes and estates and brought with them the horses. The first horses provided the aristocratic sports of Polo and riding to the hounds. Many mementoes and relics of this era can be found at the Aiken County Museum and the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.  The horses fared so well in the mild winter climate that trainers congregated here to tone their steeds for the spring races. They still do! Almost every major race in the country has at least one Aiken - trained horse in it. Aiken's love for horses comes to a crest during Aiken's Triple Crown - three successive week-ends of Harness Racing - Aiken Trails and the Aiken Steeplechase.  Today several race tracks and many polo fields dot the town and county of Aiken.  Polo is seeing a resurgence and Aiken had been reestablished as a major location for training and competing.

Aiken began to experience it's most dramatic period of growth when the Atomic Energy Commission began construction of the Savannah River Plant on a nearby site of almost 200,000 acres. The plant was operated by E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company for the U. S. Department of Energy for 37 years. Today, Savannah River Site is operated by Westinghouse Electric Corporation and employs over 17,000 people.

Downtown Aiken continues to serve as a vibrant hub for the community and provides a unique charm for the area.  The Chamber of Commerce conducts a tour of historic sites every Saturday and I highly recommend it.  Contact the Chamber at 1-800-542-4536 for reservations and information.  Horse drawn carriage tours of downtown can also be arranged.

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 EDUCATION

Click here to go to the Aiken County Board of Education Site

The University of South Carolina - Aiken is a four year institution that is part of the USC system.

The University of South Carolina Aiken is again ranked first as the top public comprehensive college in the South in the year 2007 edition of U.S.News & World Report 's guide, America 's Best Colleges. This marks the ninth time USC Aiken has been ranked in the top public comprehensive colleges in the South category by U.S.News & World Report. USC Aiken was also ranked first in 2002, 2003, and 2006.

U.S.News & World Report uses six categories of indicators to capture academic quality including: academic reputation/peer assessment (25%), retention of students (25%), faculty resources (20%), student selectivity (15%), financial resources (10%), and alumni giving (5%). The indicators include input measures that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty, and its financial resources, and outcome measures that signal how well the institution does its job of educating students.

Aiken Technical College, a two year technical college is located near Graniteville between Aiken and Augusta.  It offers 21 Associate degrees, five diploma degrees and 48 certificate degrees.  Programs of Study include:  Associate in Arts/Associates in Science transfer degrees, Business Technology, Computer Technology, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences, Industrial Occupational Technology, Office Systems Technology, and Public Service.

Augusta State University in nearby Georgia offers in-state rates to Aiken county residents.

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 HEALTHCARE

Aiken Regional Medical Centers offers services including Breast Diagnostic and Screening, Behavioral Health Sciences, Carolina Cancer Center, Diabetes Teaching Center, Expert Brain Attach Teams, Joint Replacement Center, The Heart Center, Women's LifeCare Center and Wound Care Center.  Additional services include:  24 hour Level III Trauma Center, Cardiac Catherization Lab, CT Scanner, Dialysis, Enterostomal Therapy, MRI, Neurosurgery, Cardiopulmonary Services, Endoscopy Lab, Pain Management, Respiratory Services and Sleep Disorders Clinic.  It is undergoing a significant expansion to keep pace with the growth of Aiken as a retirement mecca.

In Nearby Augusta, the MCG Health System at the Medical College of Georgia offers a high level of primary and specialty care. State-of-the-art facilities and an expert health care team combine to form a distinctive health care system for residents of Georgia, South Carolina and the Southeast, delivering advanced medical care.  Services/clinics include Allergy-Immunology, Anxiety and Panic Disorders, Bone Marrow Transplant, Breast Center, Cancer Center, Cardiology, Children's Medical Center, Diabetes Care, Craniofacial Center, Cystic Fibrosis, Dermatology, Dialysis, Ear, Nose & Throat, Epilepsy, Eye Care Associates - LASIK, Family Medicine, Gamma Knife, Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Center, Hemophilia, Infectious Disease, Joint Replacement, Metabolic Bone Disease, Neuroscience (adult & pediatric) Obstetrics/Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Pituitary Services, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Pulmonary Diseases, Radiation Therapy, Rehabilitation, Senior Health, Sickle Cell, Sleep Center, Sports Medicine, Stem Cell Transplant, Trauma, and Urology.

Serving veterans, the VA Medical Center in Augusta is recognized as one of the best in the nation offering care for both physical and mental health.  Augusta is a two-division Medical Center that provides tertiary care in medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, rehabilitation medicine, and spinal cord injury. The Downtown Division is authorized 155 beds (58 medicine, 37 surgery, and 60 spinal cord injury). The Uptown Division, located approximately three miles away, is authorized 285 beds (68 psychiatry, 60 domiciliary, 15 blind rehabilitation, and a 142-bed Restorative Care Center comprised of 132 nursing home care beds and 10 rehabilitation beds.). Through the Joint Venture for Shared Services agreement with Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Army surgeons perform neurosurgery at the Augusta VAMC for both VA patients and DoD beneficiaries In addition, Cardiothoracic surgery is performed at Eisenhower Army Medical Center for VA and DoD patients by Army surgeons. The Joint Venture for Shared Services provides for cost-effective sharing of resources between these two federal health care facilities.  The medical center enjoys a strong affiliation with the Medical College of Georgia.

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