SALUDA COUNTY was formed from the Northern and Eastern part of Edgefield County in the Constitutional Convention of 1895, by an Ordinance, which on second reading, on September 14th, by a vote of 76 to 64, gave it the name, “Butler County”, and on Monday, the 16th, changed it to “Saluda County”. The name “Saluda” is from the Indian tribe, the Saludas.

The first cornerstone for the first Court House at Saluda was laid on July 28,1896. The Saluda Old Town Treaty was signed July 2, 1755. This treaty may be the most important political event ever to occur in Saluda County, from a National standpoint. There is a tablet on the West Side of the Court House about the Treaty. Also, there is a mural depicting the Saluda Old Town Treaty on the side of a local department store downtown.

The Saluda area has been in the National picture long before the County was formed. It was the night of May 21, 1791, that George Washington spent the night in a home between Ridge Spring and Monetta. William Barret Travis and James Butler Bonham were Saluda County’s two heroes of the Alamo. There is a monument on the Court House grounds in their memory.

The County of Saluda has a total land area of 288,877 acres, covering 451 square miles. It ranks 39th in size among the counties in South Carolina. Saluda County is conveniently located approximately 50 miles from Columbia, 40 miles from Augusta, 76 from Greenville, 116 from Charlotte and 145 from Charleston. The County is easily reached via US 378, US 178, SC 121, SC 39, SC 23, SC 391, SC 193, SC 702, and SC 194.

Towns/Cities in Saluda County—Saluda, Ridge Spring, Monetta, Ward. Rail access is available in Ridge Spring, 14 miles from Saluda. The Columbia Metropolitan Airport is within an hour’s drive. Saluda’s local airport with a runway of 3200 feet is six miles from the town of Saluda. Saluda County is one of four counties bordering on Lake Murray.Population (2000) –19,181