Follow the founding of our museum.
1978: The museum’s “Founding Father” Fred Whitten, while president of the Anderson County Historical Society in 1978, received permission from the County to arrange some local history displays in the basement of the historic County Courthouse. Sustained by a handful of devoted volunteers and nurtured by our local historical organizations, the small museum grew slowly.
October, 1983: The first item accessioned was the Glenn Street School cornerstone, donated by Mr. Ellis Ball.
January, 1984: Visitation records began to be kept.
March 20, 1984: County Council made the museum a division of the Pendleton District Commission and appointed the first Anderson County Museum Advisory Committee to oversee its operation and growth. Carl Compton was the first committee chairman.
1991: With the construction of a new county courthouse, the old courthouse building was closed for much-needed preservation and renovation work. Collections were stored and the museum went into “hibernation” from 1991 until 1994.
March 14, 1994: The museum reopened in the renovated courthouse. It was located in a third floor suite of large open rooms just outside a new elevator.
August, 1996: The Anderson County Council voted to designate the recently vacated County Home building as the site for a museum.
June 4, 1997: At a meeting of the Advisory Committee, County Administrator Joey Preston proposed that they accept the county library building for use as a museum, a most suitable and desirable downtown site.
January, 2001: A fundraising campaign was started for the restoration of the Robert Anderson Fountain. The fountain had been in storage for thirteen years with no conservation care. The Independent Mail helped in the fundraising effort and more than $45,700 was raised.
April 15, 2003: Turbines and Textiles Exhibit, South Carolina Heritage Corridor Exhibit, and Buena Vista Park Exhibit were installed before the grand opening of the museum.
May 18, 2003: The Grand Opening of our present facility occurred on International Museum Day.
October, 2003: Let us Worship Church Exhibit opened.
November 15, 2003: Keep the Home Fires Burning Military Exhibit opened.
2004: Original Museum Store opened.
March 2005: The restoration and conservation of the McGee Harness Shop began with the expert guidance of Mr. Doug Kidd and Mr. Rick Brighwell of Border States Leather.
August 24, 2007: Exhibit By the Book: the History of Education in Anderson County was opened.
May 3, 2008: Museum Gallery named after Fred Whitten and becomes the Fred Whitten Gallery during the Hall of Fame celebration.
May 23, 2008: Orr Monument was moved from Orr Mill to the Anderson County Museum with the help of A. B. Roberts Construction Company.
May 7, 2009: Pendleton District Historical, Recreational and Tourism Commission gifted to the Anderson County Museum Miss Frierson’s One Room School House.
October 23, 2009: Opened Trade Street Exhibit. The Anderson County Museum published our first picture book Trade Street written by Director Beverly Childs and museum volunteer Carl Compton.
June 1, 2010: Opened Anderson Baseball Hall of Fame Exhibit.
October 2010: Director Beverly Childs and Friends of the Anderson County Museum republished the book Anderson County, South Carolina – The Things that Made it Happen.
April 18, 2013 : Opened Routes of History Phase I
October 2013 : Museum fundraised and published A Necessary War Anderson County Residents Remember World War II book written by Kathryn Smith.
February, 2014 : Linda Loparo, ACM Educator and Volunteer Coordinator, held the first meeting of the monthly American Girl Program at the museum.
September 5, 2014 : Friends Board Museum Store was relocated to a new location right inside the front door of the Museum. Don Chapman of Chapman Design Group, Inc. donated the design and project management for the new store.
October 14, 2014: The Reading and Research Room was renamed after our first ACM Curator Donna Roper to the Roper Research Room.
July 2015: A portion of the ACM Collection catalogued in Past Perfect was put online for researchers to have access to.
November 20, 2015: Opened Routes of History Phase III and launched the book Anderson Memories: the Early Years in partnership with the Independent Mail.
Sept. 2016 – March, 2017: The McGee Brothers harness shop in the upper parking lot was outfitted with custom cases and a barrier to improve visitors’ experiences on tours and enable more controlled self-guidance in the shop.
April, 2017: The first ACM traveling exhibit was developed: William Whitner: The Spark behind the Electric City.
Oct. 31-Nov. 4, 2017: The ACM had its highest weekly total of visitors in its history to date. 538 for Monster Mash and 2,026 for Mistletoe Market, totaling 2,564.
2018: A family was created around the Whitner mascot by Miranda Hayes. Wife, Whitney, children, Willie and Willa, and dog Willett.
March, 2018: The ACM developed a redesigned traveling exhibit called Delayed Honor: The Life and Legacy of Freddie Stowers which focuses on the beloved Medal of Honor recipient.
April, 2018: The Gala was moved to April and hosted for the first time at Evergreen Plantation.
May 18, 2018: The Miss Annie Lee, Civil War cannon from the town of Williamston makes its first annual trip to the museum as part of an agreement with Williamston and the Citadel.
October 16, 2018: The Anderson County Museum celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Anderson County Hall of Fame.
