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 The prisoners were suffering
from smallpox, yellow fever, hunger and exhaustion. Residents
feared prisoners escaping so old men and teenage boys were
recruited for guard duty. Conditions were overcrowded and so bad
that residents began to complain. New leadership of the prison
took place and conditions improved but not before 2,802
prisoners died. During a routine examination it was discovered
that one of the prisoners was a woman disguised as a man.
Florena Budwin had disguised herself to accompany her husband to
war. They were both captured and sent to Andersonville where her
husband was killed. She was sent to Florence along with
thousands of other prisoners. When the discovery was made she
was given a private room and the ladies of Florence donated food
and clothing. She died on Jan. 25,1865, one month before all
sick prisoners were paroled to the North. Florena is believed to
be the first woman service member to be buried in a National
Cemetery. By the end of February 1865 the Florence Stockade was
empty. By the end of the war the National Cemetery in Florence
had 2,322 soldiers buried in it.
After the war, the Northeastern Railroad was the primary
employer, and the town grew around the transport of agricultural
products from the surrounding Pee Dee River Basin.
In 1888, the South Carolina General Assembly created the "County
of Florence", encompassing the towns of Timmonsville, Coward,
and Lake City with the Town of Florence as its county seat. Two
years later, the "City of Florence" was incorporated.
Being an important rail and transportation center, Florence grew
into the 20th century. In the late 1920's an airfield was
created by Mayor H.K. Gilbert and it was known as Gilbert Field.
World War II brought an Army Air Base to Florence's Gilbert
Field and with it the growth of local industry. The Florence
Army Air Corp served as a major training site during the war.
Interest in the arts grew and led to the creation of the
Florence Little Theater in 1923 and the Florence Museum in the
1930's and the Florence Symphony Orchestra in the 1940's.
During the 40's, Florence was the largest rail station in South
Carolina with 14 passenger trains and 48 freight trains passing
through the city every day.
During the 1960's and the 1970's the construction of Interstates
I-20 and I-95 in Florence further helped Florence to become a
strategic transportation center and brought new growth in
tourism.
The 1970's and 1980's were decades of economic growth in
industrial complexes, service industries, and retail
opportunities which continues into the 1990's. Florence is the
hub of an eight county region called the "Pee Dee". It is the
center for business, health care, communications, education,
retail sales, cultural opportunities, and recreation. |
