Snaking its way through the colorful, scenic Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg is the longest undammed, unleveed blackwater river in the United States -- the Edisto River.

Some locals may recollect taking swimming lessons in the Edisto or attending riverside events and festivals at the old Pavilion where the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center now stands.

Not only is the river and its surroundings a beauty to behold, it also serves as the sole source of water for residents in the city of Orangeburg.

"As far as utilities are concerned, it's a vital resource for the community," Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities Manager Fred Boatwright said. "It's also a recreational asset, a beautiful aesthetic asset, and serves many horticultural and agricultural uses."

The river and gardens have a rich history and serve many purposes today, including providing a place for reflection and recreation, and a setting for the annual Orangeburg Festival of Roses.

Before Europeans made their way to and settled near the Edisto River, the Edisto Indians lived on the banks of and roamed the swamps surrounding the river known as Pon Pon, using the bluff overlooking the river as a trading post, according to a T&D article published in 1963.

The word Edisto means "black," according to a document at the Orangeburg County Historical Society. The river gets its dark color from tannic acid created by the decaying leaves, branches and roots of hardwoods.

Other Indian words that were spelled differently but had the same meaning and sounded like Edisto included Adusta, Outesta and Aluste, according to the same document. William Gilmore Sims said in The Times and Democrat in 1891 that the river took its name from the Indian word "Audusta."

Dr. J.W. Daniel of Bamberg wrote in a historical sketch prepared for The State in 1924 that Edisto River took its name from Adusta, which means water sprinkler.

Few historians assert that the first European settlers that came to the area now known as Orangeburg did so by way of the river, local historian and dentist Dr. Gene Atkinson said. However, Atkinson said he and the majority or researchers believe the settlers came across the land and settled near the river.

"I think they came across land trails" already established by the Indians, he said. "They settled near the river so they could have water as well as possible navigation."

In 1730, the General Assembly established 11 townships of 20,000 acres each along the banks of the chief rivers, including the Edisto, wrote the late Hugo Ackerman in the 1970 publication "A Brief History of Orangeburg." Lt. Gov. Thomas Broughton named Orangeburgh (the "h" was from German influence and later dropped) township for William IV, Prince of Orange and son-in-law of King George II of England.

Ackerman said an old plat of Orangeburg, dated 1833, shows the center of the village located not on Russell Street as it is today but on North Broughton Street in the vicinity of its intersection with Waring Street.

He said the first organized movement of settlers to the district began with the arrival of 220 German-Swiss in 1735. Those settlers were reported by the Charlestown Gazette as "going up the Edisto at government expense with provisions for one year," as outlined in "A Brief History." Each family head also received a town lot and 50 acres in the township for each family member.

Ackerman reports that the few Indians in the Orangeburg district at that time were friendly, and their allies, among them the Cherokee, would camp along the banks of the river on their way Charlestown to trade.

By 1800, a toll bridge crossed the Edisto River. In 1894, the extension of Russell Street to the river was completed.

In 1908, Orangeburg City Council approved plans for a park on land adjacent to the Edisto and, in 1926, council ordered the swampland, which had been used as a dump site for the city, to be cleared and the first azaleas planted, Ackerman said.

In 1936, Andrew Dibble was appointed superintendent of parks and recreation for the city and took off with the idea of developing the gardens. In 1941, while recovering from a case of the flu and reading a copy of National Geographic magazine featuring a photo of a Chinese waterwheel, Dibble had the vision to incorporate such a display in the gardens, according to a T&D article by Atkinson published in 1996.

The waterwheel was installed that same year and served as a peaceful fixture in the gardens as well as a means of providing fresh water for the nearby water garden.

A decade later, the building which now houses the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center was constructed.

Under the direction of Dibble, some 3,500 roses were planted in the rose garden between 1950-1951 and, in 1972, the South Carolina Festival of Roses began.

Since then, thousands of people from near and far have journeyed to the Edisto Memorial Gardens to witness the beauty, serenity and purity of the river and its surroundings each year, making the Orangeburg Festival of Roses one of the most popular events in the region.

T&D Staff Writer Wendy Jeffcoat can be reached at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060.

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