The municipality of Aiken was incorporated on December 19, 1835. The community formed around the terminus of the
South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, a rail line from Charleston to the Savannah River, and was named for
William Aiken, the railroad's first president.
Originally it was in the Edgefield District. With population increases, in 1871 Aiken County was organized, made up of parts of neighboring counties. Among its founding commissioners were three African-American legislators:
Prince Rivers;
Samuel J. Lee, speaker of the
state House and the first black man admitted to the
South Carolina Bar; and
Charles D. Hayne, a
free man of color from one of Charleston's elite families.[15]
Aiken was a
planned town, and many of the streets in the historic district are named for other cities and counties in South Carolina, including Abbeville, Barnwell, Beaufort, Chesterfield, Colleton, Columbia, Dillon, Edgefield, Edisto, Fairfield, Florence, Greenville, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Marion, Marlboro, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Pendleton, Pickens, Richland, Sumter, Union, Williamsburg and York.
Between 1890 and the 1920s, many
Jewish immigrants settled in Aiken. The Jewish immigrants were from
Eastern Europe, including
Russia and
Poland. Many were from
Knyszyn, Poland. In 1905, a group of Russian-Jewish
socialists from
New York founded a farming colony in Aiken County that was known as "
Happyville". Adath (Adas) Yeshurun (Congregation of Israel) Synagogue was chartered in Aiken in 1921 and the cornerstone was laid in 1925. An historical marker was added to the synagogue in 2014, sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina.[16][17][18][19] In 1903, the Jewish-American peddler
Abraham Surasky was the victim of an
antisemitic murder that occurred near Aiken.[20]
Aiken was the subject of a series of broadcasts by
Orson Welles in July and August 1946 regarding the blinding and severe beating of Sergeant
Isaac Woodard, a black
World War II veteran.
Savannah River Plant
The
United States Atomic Energy Commission's selection of a site near Aiken for a plant to produce fuel for thermonuclear weapons was announced on November 30, 1950. Residences and businesses at
Ellenton, South Carolina, were bought for use for the plant site. Residents were moved to New Ellenton, which was constructed about eight miles north, or to neighboring towns.
The site was named the Savannah River Plant, and renamed the
Savannah River Site in 1989. The facility contains five production reactors, fuel fabrication facilities, a research laboratory, heavy water production facilities, two fuel reprocessing facilities, and tritium recovery facilities.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.58 square miles (55.9 km2), of which 21.45 square miles (55.6 km2) is land and 0.13 square miles (0.34 km2) (0.60%) is water.[5]
Aiken has a
humid subtropical climate characterized by hot, humid summers and cool, dry winters, but experiences milder temperatures throughout the year than the rest of the state. Precipitation is distributed relatively uniformly throughout the year, with mostly rain in the milder months and occasional snow in the winter. The coldest recorded temperature was −4 °F or −20 °C on January 21, 1985, and the hottest 109 °F or 42.8 °C on August 21, 1983.
Climate data for Aiken 5 SE, South Carolina (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1893–present[a])
As of the
2020 census, there were 32,025 people, 12,923 households, and 8,479 families residing in the city.
2010 census
At the
2010 census,[8] there were 29,524 people and 12,773 households with a population density was 1,416.3 inhabitants per square mile (546.8/km2). There were 14,162 housing units at an average density of 703.1 per square mile (271.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 66.8%
White, 28.5%
Black or African American, 0.25%
Native American, 1.28%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.44% from
other races, and 1.09% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino people of any race were 2.6% of the population.
There were 10,287 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,100, and the median income for a family was $63,520. Males had a median income of $51,988 versus $28,009 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $24,129. About 10.1% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Aiken is governed via a
Council–manager system. A mayor is elected at large. The city council consists of six members. All six members are elected from single-member districts.[1]
Mayor: Teddy Milner
District 1: Gail Diggs
District 2: Lessie Price
District 3: Kay Brohl
District 4: Ed Girardeau
District 5: Andrea Neira Gregory
District 6: Ed Woltz
Previous mayors
Aiken has had four previous mayors as of November 7, 2023, when Teddy Milner become the fifth mayor of Aiken.[27] The previous mayors include:
Dr. Edward Holbrook Wyman Sr. (1942–1946; died during his second term) – Served for 4 years.
H. Odell Weeks (1946–1990; retired) – Served for 44 years.[28]
Fred Cavanaugh (1991–2015; retired) – Served for 24 years.[29]
Rick Osbon (2015–2023; lost re-election to Teddy Milner) – Served for 8 years.[30]
Aiken has a
public library, a branch of the ABBE Regional Library System.[36]
Steeplechase racing
The Aiken Steeplechase Association,[37] founded in 1930, hosts the Imperial Cup each March and the Holiday Cup in October, both races sanctioned by the
National Steeplechase Association. This event draws more than 30,000 spectators.
In the late 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, Aiken served as a winter residence for many of the country's wealthiest families, such as the
Vanderbilts,
Bostwicks, and the
Whitneys.
Thomas Hitchcock and wife Louise owned a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) estate near Aiken where in 1892 he founded the Palmetto Golf Club; in 1916, Louise founded
Aiken Preparatory School. They built a
steeplechase training center[42] and in 1939 founded Hitchcock Woods with 1,191 acres (482 ha) of their estate.[43]
Devereux Milburn, grandson of Charles Steele, a senior partner at J.P. Morgan & Company, a 10-goal polo player, and one of what was known as the
Big Four in international polo
Janie L. Mines, First African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy (1980)
Eugene Odum, author of Fundamentals of Ecology, founded Savannah River Ecology Laboratory south of Aiken to study the ecological impacts of the nuclear facility
Michael Dean Perry, former NFL defensive lineman, six-time Pro Bowl selection (1989–91, 93–94, 96), NCAA first-team All-American (1987)
Pat Sawilowsky, past president of the National Ladies Auxiliary of
Jewish War Veterans; her father, Herbert B. Ram,[44] owned and named Patricia Theater in downtown Aiken after her,[45] and the companion Rosemary Theater[46] was named for her sister.[47]
Gamel Woolsey, writer, coined the phrase "pornography of violence" in her
Spanish Civil War memoir Death's Other Kingdom (also published as Malaga Burning)
Priscilla A. Wooten, American politician who served in the New York City Council from 1983 to 2001