What’s in a Name: Ninety Six and

Ninety Six and Six Mile, S.C.

By RAY BALOGH | The Municipal

Some town names consist solely of numbers, and sometimes, their etymology is a matter of mystery or dispute. Such is the case with two municipalities in South Carolina.

The town’s park fountain boasts a rock sculpture of the town’s number. (Photo provided by the town of Ninety Six) The town park and pavilion are frequent gathering places for community members to share fellowship, food and good times. (Photo provided by the town of Six Mile)

The area saw its share of battles during the Revolutionary War, including the first engagement outside of New England.

Ninety Six was chartered by the state legislature in 1869 and was incorporated on May 27, 1905. Early industries included cotton, brick, cannery and oil. The current population is 2,051.

For more information, visit ninetysixsc.gov.

NINETY SIX

Ninety Six, a small community of 1.5 square miles, sports a name whose origin may never be known with any certainty, though that prospect has not quelled staunch but differing opinion that is still providing debate fodder today.

Perhaps the leading theory is that early traders dubbed the town from their estimate that the nearest Cherokee settlement, Keowee, was 96 miles away. But the actual distance is 78 miles, and it is hard to imagine the pioneer’s calculations would be that “far off.”

Another disproved legend was that 96 was the total number of creeks crossing the main road from the town to Lexington, S.C. Again, the estimate was wildly inaccurate.

One speculation is that the town is named because of a mispronunciation of the Welsh phrase “nant-sych,” meaning “dry gulch.” Historians, however, have been unable to confirm that the town’s founder, Robert Goudy, was Welsh, Scottish or German.

Some say the name derives from the observation that six creeks ran south from the Saluda River and nine ran south from the Savannah River. Though plausible, no convincing documentation supports the theory.

Finally, one source suggests 96 refers to the number of “chains,” a linear measurement traditionally used in English parishes, equal to 66 feet. The distance equals exactly 1.2 miles, but no meaningful reference points have been posited to connect the number with the land.

In any event, the settlement was established in the early 18th century and became the capital of the Ninety-Six District in July 1769.

SIX MILE

The name origin of the tiny burg of Six Mile, population 678, is more discernible, as it is situated 6 miles from Fort Prince George, a fortification built on the Cherokee Path and serving as the principal Carolinian trading post among the Cherokee settlements.

Still, an alternate theory still makes the rounds, perhaps because of its romantic element. Legend has it that Indian maiden Issaqueena rode on horseback to the fort to warn her lover, an English trader named Francis Allen, of an impending Cherokee attack. They escaped, married and had a child.

In 1777, Six Mile was signed over to the state in a treaty, but was not settled until 1800 by Scotch-Irish, Dutch-German and English pioneers. Those settlers were a sturdy bunch noted for their “integrity, industry and independence,” according to historians.

There were no established businesses for most of a century, just handshake commerce and neighbors helping each other.

Six Mile Baptist Church was founded in 1836, and the first post office was established in 1878. The community was incorporated in 1910, and businesses started to spring up, including sawmills, blacksmith and welding shops, barbers, furniture and grocery stores, service stations and a mortuary.

Commerce was still chiefly agricultural until after World War II when textile mills opened around the area.

The town has steadily maintained its character of hardworking citizens who enjoy simple, honest, cohesive community and family life.

For more information, visit sixmilesc.org.