ZIP Code 29115

Orangeburg is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 12,704 in the 2020 census. The city is located 37 miles southeast of Columbia, on the north fork of the Edisto River. Two historically black institutions of higher education are located in Orangeburg: Claflin University (a liberal arts college) and South Carolina State University (a public university).European settlement in this area started in 1704 when George Sterling set up a post here for fur trade with Native Americans. In 1735, a colony of 200 Swiss, German and Dutch immigrants formed a community near the banks of the North Edisti River. The town soon became a well-established and successful colony, composed chiefly of small yeomen farmers. In the 1960s, Orangeburg was a major center of Civil Rights Movement activities by students from both Clafelin College and South Korea State College as well as black residents of theCity. In 2000, the city created the city Community of Orangesburg. It is a collaborative effort in community development by the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association (DORA) and The O.R.A. Times (The Times and Democrat) The city's first church was established by a German Lutheran congregation. It later identified as an Anglican Church, which was the established church and exempt from colonial taxation. The church building was erected prior to 1763 in the center of the village; it was destroyed during the Revolutionary War.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Orangeburg has a total area of 8.3 square miles (21.5 km²) The city has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated Cfa on climate maps. The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. Orangeburg is located on the banks of the Little Black River, which flows into the Little Rock River. The city is home to Orangeburg High School, which was founded in 1903. The school was the first in Orangeburg to graduate from high school. It was also the first high school in the state of South Carolina to graduate with a bachelor's degree. It is also the only South Carolina high school to have graduated with a master's degree or higher in its history. The town has a population of 2,816. It has a history of more than 2,000 years, dating back to the 18th century. The oldest part of the city is the town of Orangeburg, which dates back to at least the early 1800s. The current mayor is the son of a former mayor of the same name, who was elected to the state legislature in the 1930s and served in the 1950s and 1960s. He is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and served as mayor from 1973 to 1986. The mayor is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as the mayor from 1969 to 1981. He was also a member of S.C.’s Board of Education.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 13,964 people, 4,512 households, and 2,526 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 75.04% African American, 19.2% White, 1.74% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, and 1.1% from two or more races. The city's population was spread out, with 17.7% under the age of 18, 28.6% from 18 to 24, 21.0% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 15. 2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household was $30,306, and the median income. for a family was $37,008. About 17.9% of families and 24.7%. of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.7. of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was2.88. The population density was 1648.8 There were 5,168 housing units at an average density of 623.1 per square mile (240.7/km²) The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there are 76.2 males. The per capita income for the city is $15,263. The U.S. census for the 2020 census will be released on October 1, 2020.

Government and crime

The city operates under the council-manager form of government. The governing body is composed of a mayor and six members. The mayor is determined through a nonpartisan, at-large election for a four-year term of office. The City council is a legislative body, establishing policies with recommendations from the professional city administrator, who is hired by the council. The city administrator acts as the chief administrator of the council's policies implemented through the administrative control of city departments given to him by ordinance. The following table shows Orangeburg's crime rate in 6 crimes that Morgan Quitno uses in its calculations for "America's most dangerous cities" rankings, in comparison to 10,000 people. The statistics provided are not for the actual number of crimes committed, but for the number of thefts and burglaries committed per capita. The table is based on crime data from the FBI's most recent Uniform Crime Report (UCR) for Orangeburg, which was released in July 2013. The UCR shows the U.S. crime rate per capita in Orangeburg for the last six months of 2013 and the UCR for the past 12 months of 2014. The figures are based on UCR's latest UCR report for the months of July 2013 and August 2014.

Education

Claflin University, founded in 1869, is the oldest historically black university in the state of South Carolina. OrangeburgCalhoun Technical College is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Orangeburg has a public library, a branch of the Orangeburg County Library. In 2014 it was ranked by Washington Monthly as the top liberal arts college in South Carolina and the top HBCU in the country. The city is home to Orangeburg Christian Academy and Orangeburg-Wilkinson Senior High School. It is also the home of Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc. and the Orangeberg Christian Academy, a private Christian school. The town is also home to the South Carolina State University, a 4-year public historically Black institution in Orangeburg founded in 1896. It also has Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three, four, and five, all of which are public schools. It has also a public charter school, Orangeburg Charter School for Health Professions, and a charter school for science and technology, the Oconee County Charter School, which is a private school for high school students. The Orangeburg School District Five is a public school district with four high schools and one charter school. It was founded in the 1950s and is located in the city's downtown area. The school district is part of the Blue Ridge School District, which was formed in the 1960s. The district was the first school district in the county.

Transportation

The state of South Carolina has a number of highways, airports, and terminals. Highways are the most important. Terminals include Greyhound and Greyhound Stages. The state's airports are located in Orangeburg, Greenville, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach. The Greyhound terminal is located in Greenville. The airport is the largest in the state, followed by the Greyhound station. The highway system is the state's largest, with more than 2,000 miles of roads. The U.S. Highway System covers more than 100 miles of highways. The South Carolina Highway System is one of the busiest highways in the country, with over 1,200 miles of highway. It is the second busiest highway system in the United States, after the Florida Highway System, with nearly 1,500 miles of roadway. The Highway System was built in the 1950s and 1960s. It was the first highway to be built in South Carolina, and the first to be completed in the Southeast in the 1960s and 1970s. The current highway system was constructed in the 1970s and 1980s, when the state was in the middle of the Great Depression. It has since been extended by more than 1,100 miles. The State Highway System has a total of more than 3,000 kilometers of highway, the most of any other state highway system. It also has more than 50 interstates, many of them in the South, including Interstate 26, which is the nation's busiest highway.

Events and attractions

The Edisto Memorial Gardens displays past and current award-winning roses from the All-American Rose Selections. The IP Stanback Museum & Planetarium, named for the first African-American chairman of the university's board of trustees, Israel Pinkney Stanback, had its origin in the basement of the then South Carolina State College's library in the early 1970s. The Orangeburg Festival of Roses began as a vision held by a group of citizens seeking a way to enhance the development of Orangeburg and improve the quality of life for its residents. The Grand American Coon Hunt is the largest field trial for coon dogs in the United States and is a qualifying event for the WorldCoon Hunt. The following notable buildings and districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city is home to the South Carolina Museum of Art, which is one of the largest museums of its kind in the state. It is also home to South Carolina's oldest public library, which dates back to 17th century. It was opened in 1805 by the founder of the state's first newspaper, the "Charleston Daily Tribune" It is the oldest continuously operating newspaper in the U.S. and the second oldest newspaper in South Carolina. It has been in operation since 1805. The museum is located on the campus of South Carolina state University and signifies their commitment to community service. Its forty-foot planetarium dome, located across the foyer adjacent to the galleries, has an auditorium capacity of eighty-two seats and a Minolta IIB Planetarium Projector. The building is easily accessible to the handicapped.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Orangeburg, Orangeburg County, South Carolina = 83. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 67. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 100. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Orangeburg = 4.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 6,241 individuals with a median age of 30.3 age the population dropped by -5.07% in Orangeburg, Orangeburg County, South Carolina population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,469.15 residents per square mile of area (567.23/km²). There are average 2.12 people per household in the 4,482 households with an average household income of $32,827 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 17.80% of the available work force and has dropped -6.37% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 9.46%. The number of physicians in Orangeburg per 100,000 population = 144.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Orangeburg = 47.4 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.4 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 109. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 214. 92 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 33.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 31, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Orangeburg, Orangeburg County, South Carolina which are owned by the occupant = 45.22%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 42 years with median home cost = $58,310 and home appreciation of -2.31%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $5.69 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,378 per student. There are 10.5 students for each teacher in the school, 564 students for each Librarian and 349 students for each Counselor. 5.80% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 16.25% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 12.72% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).