Bamberg County, South Carolina: History
Part of an agricultural area since the antebellum years, this upland area was developed for the cultivation of short-staple cotton. As a result, African Americans have comprised a large portion of the workers and population for much of the county's history.
The rural county was created from the eastern portion of Barnwell County, under the new South Carolina Constitution adopted in 1895; it included an article prescribing the process to establish new counties. The referendum on creating Bamberg County was held on January 19, 1897. The name Bamberg was selected to honor General Francis Marion Bamberg. In 1919 and again in 1920, tiny portions of northwestern Colleton County were annexed to Bamberg County.