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H. 5096

STATUS INFORMATION

Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Rep. Agnew
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24187bb08.doc

Introduced in the House on April 29, 2008
Introduced in the Senate on April 29, 2008
Adopted by the General Assembly on April 29, 2008

Summary: Abbeville

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   4/29/2008  House   Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate HJ-9
   4/29/2008  Senate  Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence SJ-17

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/29/2008

TO CELEBRATE THE OCCASION OF THE TWO HUNDRED FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CITY OF ABBEVILLE, AND TO CONGRATULATE AND COMMEND MAYOR HAROLD E. MCNEILL AND THE CITIZENS OF ABBEVILLE FOR TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES OF SHOWCASING BOTH THE BEAUTY AND PROGRESS OF THIS GREAT SOUTH CAROLINA CITY.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly join the city of Abbeville in celebrating the milestone of its two hundred fiftieth anniversary; and

Whereas, nestled in the five hundred eight square mile county of the same name, the city of Abbeville quietly boasts the cultural center, commerce, and agriculture that have adorned this town since its founding in 1758; and

Whereas, among the Huguenots exiled from their French homeland because of religious persecution who first settled the area, Dr. Joannes de la Howe named it for his native city in France; and

Whereas, General Andrew Pickens resided in Abbeville from 1765 to 1787 and raised a company of volunteers from Abbeville that fought in numerous significant battles of the Revolutionary War; and

Whereas, in its early days, Abbeville housed one of the three powder magazines in the State, making it a strategic military staging area; and

Whereas, after the Revolution, General Pickens sold his land and donated the Big Spring as a public water source, around which the Abbeville Court House, town square, and village grew; and

Whereas, one of her most famous native sons, John C. Calhoun, served two terms as the seventh vice president of the United States after serving as the Secretary of War for several years and became a leading proponent of states' rights following Thomas Jefferson and James Madison; and

Whereas, Abbeville became known as the "Birthplace and Deathbed of the Confederacy" because on November 22, 1860, one of the first organized meetings of the Secession movement took place on Secession Hill near the town square, and on May 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, held the last meeting of his War Cabinet at the Burt Stark Mansion on North Main; and

Whereas, Abbeville has a rich economic heritage in the textile industry that continues today with its two thriving Milliken plants, and the City Council has maintained aggressive efforts to attract other progressive industries such as Prysmian Cable, Flexible Technologies, and Carolina Fabrication; and

Whereas, every year over thirty-five thousand patrons attend performances at the Abbeville Opera House, the Official State rural drama theater, which uses the same rope-pulled rigging systems on its seven thousand eight hundred square-foot stage as it did in 1908 when it opened and is the only "hemphouse" remaining in the State; and

Whereas, rich in history as well as natural resources, Abbeville County claims such natural beauties as Calhoun Falls State Park and Sumter National Forest; and

Whereas, on May 1, 2008, the city of Abbeville plans a celebration to commemorate two and a half centuries of community life and to anticipate a bright future enhanced by the rich heritage of the past. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, celebrate the occasion of the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the city of Abbeville, and congratulate and commend Mayor Harold E. McNeill and the citizens of Abbeville for two and a half centuries of showcasing both the beauty and progress of this great South Carolina city.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor Harold E. McNeill.

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