A 1,700-acre recreational lake just outside the city of Orangeburg?

While the concept had been discussed before, talk of creating “Lake Edisto” heated up in the late 1950s. The discussion resurfaced in 1977.

An Orangeburg native and entrepreneur who trained with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black military aviators in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, was not selected for the final group, but that didn’t stop him from achieving a lifetime of success.

The late Earl Middleton, a Claflin graduate went on to become a real estate mogul and civic leader in his hometown as well as a state legislator.

Orangeburg City Council in the late 1800s had a desire for its own streetcar.

Council approved building streetcar tracks down the center of Russell and Broughton streets from the Southern Railway depot at Russell Street to the Atlantic Coast Line depot on South Broughton.

The street car line transported people from one railroad station to another, with stops along the route to offload passengers and freight.

An act of the Legislature in 1791 authorized the construction of a bridge over the Edisto River.

The bridge was to be built “at or near the Old Mill Seat within the limits of the town,” according to legislative records.

A causeway through the swamp was also provided for.