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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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