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South Carolina · Pee Dee · #725
Florence County, South Carolina
At the I-95 and I-20 crossroads in the heart of South Carolina's Pee Dee region, Florence is the commercial and healthcare hub for one of the state's most agricultural areas - a mid-sized South Carolina city whose strategic highway position has made it a distribution and healthcare center for a wide rural catchment.
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Services: Oversees a coordinated multi-hazard disaster preparedness program across four divisions (Emergency Operations Center, Emergency Communications Center, radio communications, mitigation planning); the county-wide E-911 network operates 24/7 for law enforcement, fire, and EMS dispatch
Related: Florence County EMS – staffs a minimum of 10 ALS ambulances at all times from 7 stations, covering an 800-square-mile service area of roughly 140,000 residents; projected over 29,000 calls for service in 2024.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-95 and I-20 intersect near Florence, the county seat, a historic railroad hub
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Florence County Building/Codes – confirm current contact via florencecountysc.gov
Services: Building permits and inspections for unincorporated Florence County
Notes: City of Florence maintains its own SEPARATE Building & Permitting Department – (843) 665-3151, [email protected] – confirm the correct jurisdiction for your property.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Florence County Veterans Affairs Office – Florence, SC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Florence County Library System – main branch in Florence plus branches in Johnsonville, Lake City, Olanta, Pamplico, and Timmonsville
Main Branch: Florence County Library – 509 South Dargan Street, Florence, SC 29506 | (843) 662-8424 | Hours: Mon–Thu 9 AM–7 PM, Fri 9 AM–5:30 PM, Sat 9 AM–1 PM (closed Sun)
Services: Holds roughly 297,000 volumes and circulates approximately 328,000 items annually; features a South Carolina Room for local history/genealogy research, a Dr. N. Lee Morris Art Gallery, and is a congressionally designated federal government documents depository; the Friends of Florence County Library, celebrating 60 years of service, is the oldest public library Friends group in South Carolina; note the ORIGINAL 1925 Florence Public Library building at 319 S. Irby St. is separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2006) as an early Classical Revival landmark
Related: Pamplico Branch – 100 East Main Street, Pamplico, SC 29583, (843) 386-2052; Johnsonville Branch – 242 South Georgetown Highway, Johnsonville, SC 29555, (843) 394-8071.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Florence County holds a genuinely significant and difficult piece of Civil War history in the FLORENCE STOCKADE (Confederate States Military Prison at Florence), a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp constructed in September 1864 by approximately 1,000 enslaved laborers under Major Frederick F. Warley; the site was selected because three converging railroad lines made it an efficient transfer point for thousands of Union prisoners evacuated from Andersonville and other Georgia camps as General Sherman’s forces advanced; the open-air stockade – 23.5 acres enclosed by a 16-foot timber wall with a surrounding ditch and artillery platforms at each corner – held as many as 16,000 to 18,000 Union soldiers between September 1864 and February 1865, guarded by roughly 1,800 Confederate troops, many of them South Carolina Reserves as young as 17 or over 45; conditions were severe, with an initial death rate of 20 to 30 men per day, and documented accounts describing “filthy, diseased, famished men, with no hope of relief except by death” – at least 2,800 Union prisoners died in captivity and were buried in mass trench graves, now honored at the adjacent Florence National Cemetery; Confederate Brigadier General John H. Winder, commander of all Confederate prisons east of the Mississippi, died of a heart attack at the site in February 1865 while attempting to arrange the camp’s closure due to inadequate water supply; the stockade was fully evacuated by the end of February 1865 as Sherman’s forces advanced into South Carolina; today the site is preserved as the Florence Stockade Trail and Memorial Park, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1980), maintained by the Friends of the Florence Stockade with a 16-stop interpretive walking trail
Notes: The Florence Stockade’s genuine, extensively documented history – including its severe conditions, thousands of documented deaths, and construction by enslaved labor – represents one of the most historically weighty and directly InmateAid-relevant sites found in this project, given its status as a genuine 19th-century prison camp.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Florence County GIS – accessible via florencecountysc.gov
Parcel Search: Florence County Assessor
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Florence County Emergency Management Department
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Florence County Municipal Animal Shelter (Animal Shelter of Florence County) – 1487 Humane Lane, Effingham, SC 29541 | (843) 665-3053
Services: A county-run shelter providing care, spay/neuter, and adoption services for homeless and abandoned animals; serves Florence, Quinby, Timmonsville, Olanta, Johnsonville, Lake City, Pamplico, Scranton, Effingham, and Coward; promotes owner-to-owner rehoming as a first option before shelter surrender
Related: Florence Area Humane Society (FAHS) – 1434 S. McCurdy Road, Florence, SC, (843) 669-2921, Hours: Tue–Sat 12–5 PM, a separate nonprofit partnering with the City of Florence’s own Animal Shelter (Hours: Tue–Sat 12–5 PM, closed Sun/Mon) to review adoption applications for animals housed there.
Notes: The City of Florence and Florence County operate SEPARATE animal shelter facilities with overlapping nonprofit partnerships (FAHS) – confirm which shelter serves your specific address.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: SC DHEC – scdhec.gov
Notes: Contact Florence County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Florence County is genuinely home to the Florence Stockade, a Confederate Civil War prisoner-of-war camp with a severe and extensively documented history of thousands of prisoner deaths – a site of direct historical relevance to InmateAid’s mission. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Florence County
Florence County’s position at the intersection of I-95 and I-20 – the north-south Atlantic corridor and the east-west Southern corridor – makes it one of South Carolina’s most strategic logistics and commercial locations. The McLeod Health system, Francis Marion University, and the county’s distribution and manufacturing base (BMW suppliers, automotive parts) provide economic anchoring beyond the highway commercial sector.
The Pee Dee region’s agricultural economy – tobacco, soybeans, cotton – defines the rural townships surrounding Florence city. The Florence Civic Center and a functional downtown give the city cultural infrastructure above what a purely commercial crossroads city sustains. Florence Darlington Technical College serves workforce development. The county’s Civil War heritage – the Florence Stockade, a Confederate prisoner-of-war facility where approximately 700 Union soldiers died – is preserved at Florence National Cemetery.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
South Carolina assesses owner-occupied residential property at 4% of fair market value. Property owners may appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals. South Carolina offers homestead exemptions for residents 65 or older. South Carolina has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Pee Dee Area Agency on Aging
(843) 669-4242
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, and long-term care counseling for Florence County residents.
Senior Services
Pee Dee Area Agency on Aging
(843) 669-4242
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, and long-term care counseling for Florence County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
180 North Irby St, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 665-3061
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Florence County Probate Court, Florence (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Florence County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Florence County Probate Court 181 North Irby Street, Suite 1300, Florence, SC 29501 (843) 665-3085 Florence County is in the Pee Dee region of northeastern South Carolina, seated in Florence.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
South Carolina HAS adopted a version of the Uniform Probate Code, giving it more standardized and generally more streamlined procedures than states with older, common-law-based systems. Probate is handled by a dedicated Probate Court in each of South Carolina’s 46 counties – a separate court of limited jurisdiction, led by an elected Probate Judge (four-year term). The case is filed in the county where the decedent lived.
Small Estate Affidavit / Collection by Affidavit (S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-1201) – available when the gross value of the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $45,000 (raised from $25,000 for deaths after May 2025). At least 30 days must have passed since death, and no petition for appointment of a personal representative can be pending anywhere. The successor files a Form 420PC “Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property,” which the probate judge approves and countersigns.
Summary Administration (§ 62-3-1203) – a simplified probate procedure available when the value of the estate passing by will (less liens and encumbrances) is under the statutory threshold, or when the surviving spouse is the sole heir or beneficiary.
Informal Probate – the standard path for the majority of estates. No notices or hearings are required unless demanded by an interested party.
Formal Proceedings – reserved for contested matters: objections to a personal representative’s appointment, will contests, a lost or destroyed will, or declaratory judgments on intestacy.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files a petition with the Florence County Probate Court where the decedent resided; if there’s a will, the original is filed with it.
For informal probate, the Probate Judge (or a designated staff member) reviews the application administratively; formal proceedings require notice and a hearing.
The court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, giving the personal representative authority to act.
The personal representative files an inventory and appraisement within 90 days of qualification, and provides periodic accountings as the court requires.
Creditors are notified; claims not timely presented are barred.
The estate closes with a final settlement – a verified report and proposed distribution served on interested parties and approved by the Probate Court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary; check with Florence County directly for current fees.
A personal representative’s bond, when required, must equal one and one-half times the value of the estate’s personal property, though bond can often be waived under certain conditions.
South Carolina does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
180 North Irby St, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 665-3061
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
180 North Irby St, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 665-2121
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
VOTER REGISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
180 North Irby St, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 665-3072
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
DHEC Public Health Office
145 Dozier Blvd, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 661-4830
Department of Social Services
1937 West Evans St, Florence, SC 29501
(843) 662-8441
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Florence County Public Health (DHEC) – Florence, SC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Florence
Population: 138,000
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Florence County facilities via Amazon.
