Lancaster County, SC Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Lancaster County Code Chapter 2, Division 2 creates the Lancaster County Historical Commission with the stated purpose of preserving and identifying places and things of historical significance and collecting and storing historical artifacts in a secure, archival manner (§ 2-311). Under § 2-312, the commission has seven voting members, one recommended by each county council district and appointed by council for four-year terms, plus six non-voting at-large advisors also appointed by council; commissioners may serve two consecutive four-year terms and then must wait four years before reappointment.

The commission meets at least monthly (or quarterly at minimum) and a quorum requires three members including the chair, vice-chair or secretary. Its duties under § 2-313 are to select, design and designate locations for historical markers, apply to the state for markers or assist other groups making applications, operate the county historical museum, and acquire, conserve and maintain the museum collection; it may also receive and disburse funds within its budget and stage historical events. The commission must submit an annual operating budget to county council (§ 2-314), file meeting minutes with the clerk to council within thirty days (§ 2-315), and submit an annual report to council by June 15.

C. (§ 2-316). There is no separate ordinance in this code creating a historic-landmark or monument designation process that restricts what private owners may do with historic structures; zoning-side historic preservation, if any, sits in the county's Unified Development Ordinance, which is a separate instrument from the Code of Ordinances.