Kalmia Gardens is a particularly colorful part of the town’s legacy. Located on the bluffs of Black Creek, the 35-acre botanical garden offers wooded trails with breathtaking views of azaleas, camellias, forsythia and mountain laurel in their season. Open to the public year round, Kalmia Gardens was created by descendants of Hartsville’s founding families and is lovingly preserved by dedicated naturalists.

Highlights of the town’s rich agricultural history have been archived in the visitor education center at the original Coker Experimental Farms site. There, visitors can learn the story of David R. Coker’s selective seed breeding experiments and other innovative practices for improving crops from photographs, artifacts, and various multimedia presentations.

There’s also the Hartsville Museum. Housed in a 1930s U. S. Post Office, the museum has retained many of the unique architectural features of the building. Permanent exhibits include: a collection of Native American artifacts gathered from the region; early hand tools and agricultural implements; South Carolina’s first car, the Locomobile Steam Car; the “Cotton: Field to Fabric” display; and a celebration of the first 100 years of Hartsville’s largest employer.

Founded by the Coker family in the late 1800s, Sonoco Products Company provides more than jobs for the good people of Hartsville. The town and its citizens have been the recipients of many acts of philanthropy from the international manufacturer with the primary goal of improving the quality of life in Hartsville and Darlington County.

Other companies and organizations contribute to a better quality of life in their own way. Stingray Boats builds powerboats in one of the most technically advanced facilities in the country to fill the recreational needs of boaters and water skiers around the world and locally on Lake Robinson and Prestwood Lake.

Progress Energy operates two power plants in Darlington County to generate electricity for work and home. The Byerly Foundation provides grant money to numerous educational and community projects, and Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center sponsors health fairs, blood drives and other events, while providing compassionate, high-quality healthcare services in a cost effective and safe manner.

It all adds up to a rich and balanced way of life in a small but cultured college town.

Oh, and did we mention its year-round temperate climate?

Katherine O. Pettit has worked as a writer, magazine editor, printer and public relations consultant. The Columbia resident has published more than 250 articles in magazines and newspapers. Her writing explores a variety of subjects including travel, lifestyles, business and management.