COLUMBIA, SC - The South Carolina State Park Service is holding a year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary, with events planned from the mountains to the sea. The anniversary celebration begins on Friday, April 4, at 1 p.m. with a ceremony on the steps of Cheraw Town Hall that will re-enact the 1934 deed transfer for the land that would become Cheraw State Park. The community’s citizens had purchased the land and donated it to the state, following up on enabling legislation in 1933 that called for the creation of “state forest parks.”

Part of a nationwide movement, the Cheraw acreage was the first land secured for a state park in
South Carolina. The first park to open its gates here was Myrtle Beach on July 1, 1936. More
followed in quick succession, built by the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and in 1937,
the first year records were kept, 387,000 people visited South Carolina’s state parks.

Today, the S.C. State Park Service is part of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism and operates 47 properties comprising nearly 90,000 acres of diverse landscape. Approximately seven million visitors a year come to the parks to picnic and hike and stay in the more than 200 cabins and villas and 3,000 campsites. They also visit nature centers and living history programs and gain an appreciation of South Carolina’s natural and cultural history with hands-on classes led by interpretive rangers.

“We have a unique state park system of unusual variety and inestimable value to the people of
South Carolina and beyond,” said SCPRT Director Chad Prosser.

“Whether it’s conserving unique habitats such as a blackwater Carolina bay or a Blue Ridge
mountain cove, preserving and interpreting irreplaceable markers of our state’s history such as
Charles Towne Landing, plantation homes and battlefield sites, or providing stewardship of
recreational access for families to beaches, woodlands and major reservoirs, South Carolina’s
state parks are an indelible part of the daily life of the Palmetto State,” Prosser said.

The year-long 75th anniversary celebration carries the theme “Come Out and Play,” in recognition
of the parks’ vital role in adding to quality of life in South Carolina.

“Parks also are serious business in South Carolina,” Prosser said. “From the very beginning, they
were intended to help promote tourism in South Carolina, while simultaneously providing crucial
stewardship of our cultural and natural resources. This has been accomplished while at the same
time developing into one of the most self-sufficient state park systems in the country.”

A community building groundbreaking and Founder’s Day celebration at Charles Towne Landing
on Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, will follow the Cheraw kickoff. Observances then will
be held at each of the other 45 parks during the year, and a coffee table book with legacy and
new photographs of the parks will be published later this year.

The celebration also includes a statewide photo contest and other interactive activities at
www.SouthCarolinaParks.com, where visitors also can sign up for an e-newsletter. Click on the
“Come Out and Play” icon on the site for games, event listings, travel deals and other highlights,
as well as a very animated “invitation” for everyone to come out and enjoy their parks.