South Carolina Genealogy (southcarolinagenealogy.org) is a free research hub for anyone tracing family, community, and place history in the Palmetto State. We exist to be the best starting place for SC genealogy: every county as useful as our flagship Charleston hub, with method teaching that matches how South Carolina records actually work.

Editorial mission

• Jurisdiction first — parent districts, late counties, burned-courthouse substitutes, and neighbor fan-out
• Charleston-class consistency — formation facts, signature topics, record matrix, towns, newspapers, cemeteries, churches, societies, history week, and clear CTAs on all 46 counties
• Practical tools — free checklists, cheatsheet bundle, priority packs, and per-county printable cheatsheets
• Respectful specialized paths — African American, Gullah Geechee, Indigenous/Catawba, military, women’s research
• Honest coverage labels — sparse / partial / strong in the matrix; no false completeness

About the editor

This project is curated by Avery Parker, based in the Asheville, North Carolina area, working in technology and music education, and building a network of state genealogy hubs. The focus of this site remains South Carolina family history—not a personal blog and not client research sales.

Approach: practical methodology, long-form place research, careful use of public archives, library catalogs, and published guides. We do not claim professional client-research certification on every page. When you need a hired researcher, use Association of Professional Genealogists directories and local society referrals.

How we work (standards)

• Prefer verifiable repositories over anonymous online trees
• Label uncertainty (fragmentary newspapers, incomplete cemetery inventories)
• Separate commemorative lore from proof standards
• Invite corrections via contact; update “last reviewed” dates as hubs improve
• Cite and link out to SCDAH, FamilySearch, libraries, and societies rather than hoarding catalogs

Full process: How we work.

What you’ll find

• All 46 county hubs — filter by Lowcountry, Upstate, Midlands, or Pee Dee
• Method guides — start here, districts, census, land, probate, churches, AA, Indigenous, military, migration
• Directory — libraries, societies, archives, museums
• Articles · This week in SC history · Timeline · Surname queries
• Free printables — starter checklist, cheatsheet bundle, priority county pack, burned-county pack, AA pack
• Forum archive — preserved historical queries

County page standard

We formalized a master county template from the Charleston hub so structure never depends on which county you open: facts, topics, matrix, towns, news, CTAs, neighbors, and research starting points. Content depth continues to grow; the skeleton is consistent now.

Multi-state network

South Carolina researchers often need North Carolina (and eventually Tennessee and Virginia) for migration and border families. Sister hub:

• North Carolina Genealogy — northcarolinagenealogy.net
• Tennessee & Virginia hubs — planned; see Sister sites & network

We cross-link border counties and migration guides so dual-state problems stay visible.

The rebuild

The legacy WordPress site served researchers for many years. We exported county narratives, articles, forum posts, and files into a custom PHP application with cleaner structure, admin tools, local history news, and ongoing depth (including this 2026 Charleston-parity program).

Read: South Carolina Genealogy Relaunch.

How you can help

• Send authoritative newspaper title variants, cemetery survey citations, or repository hours via contact
• Share county hubs with local societies, libraries, and DNA match groups
• Post thoughtful surname queries with places and decades
• Print a free pack from the shop and gift it to a research buddy

Thank you for researching with us—and for helping every county page earn Charleston’s standard.