Hartsville (South Carolina)

Hartsville is in the Pee Dee Country of South Carolina, comprising the largest town of Darlington County. It holds honoree status as an All-America City and Arbor Day Foundation Tree City. Its early days were full of some headstrong entrepreneurs, which lent the town a fair share of industry, and today it's the headquarters of Sonoco and Coker University, which has a nice botanical garden.

Get in

Hartsville is about 14 miles north of I-20 and 20 miles northwest of I-95.

See

• 1 Hartsville Museum, 222 N 5th St, ☏ +1 843 383-3005. M-Sa 10AM-4PM. Small local museum with textiles and things. Free. (updated Dec 2021)

Do

• 1 Kalmia Gardens, 1624 W Carolina Ave, ☏ +1 843 383-8145. Dawn to Dusk. This botanical garden with camelias, azeleas, wisteria, and a mountain laurel called Kalmia latifolia, encompasses a pond and bluffs and the Thomas Hart house, the home of the town's founder, as the centerpiece. Free. (updated Dec 2021)
• 2 Lawton Park, 716 Prestwood Dr, ☏ +1 843 917-0583. Daily 7AM-9PM. You can enjoy some languid scenes of Prestwood Lake from this city park and admire some Works Progress Administration work with a Colonial Revival building on site. Free. (updated Dec 2021)
• 3 Center Theater, 212 N 5th St, ☏ +1 843 332-5721. A retro theater builty by the WPA where, among other things, you can attend the annual Renofest, which is a bluegrass festival dedicated to Don Reno. (updated Dec 2021)

Kalmia Latifolia

Thomas E. Hart House

The Marquee at Center Theater in Hartsville, South Carolina

Sleep

• 1 The Landmark Inn, 1301 S 4th St, ☏ +1 843 332-2611. They try, with a continental breakfast and a pool. (updated Dec 2021)