Johnston, South Carolina

Johnston is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,470 at the 2012 census. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. The town's official welcome sign states that it is "Peach Capital of the World."

History

Johnston is called The Hub of the Ridge because it is located at the meeting place of the three river systems which flow away from the Ridge, a fertile plateau about thirty miles long between clay hills to the north and sand hills to the south. The area has been settled since the mid-1700s. In 1791 as George Washington traveled through the area on his triumphant tour through the country, he stopped at the Lott family plantation, just east of Johnston.

In the late 1860s, the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad expanded westward from Columbia to Augusta. Edward Jones Mims, M.D., persuaded William Johnston, president of the railroad, to run the railroad through the 1200-acre Mims plantation. In return, Dr. Mims agreed to name the new town for Mr. Johnston.