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Florence, SC & the Pee Dee

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Active Local Jobs
220+
Available Scholarships
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Spring fair festival with local vendors, food trucks, and crowds under a blue sky capturing a lively community atmosphere

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Events, festivals, and hidden gems around Florence

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Featured Stories
A large travel station with market and multiple gasoline pumps along the highway in the rural town of Butte, Montana, USA.
Newest · Exit 170
Places · Business · Culture

Florence, SC's Most Famous Landmark Isn't Downtown. It's an Exit Sign.

Buc-ee's opened at Exit 170 off I-95 in May 2022 and put Florence on more phone screens than anything else the city has ever built. Here's what's verified — and what we still don't know.

Read the full story
A historical plaque stands on the grounds of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (or just the Old Stone Church) in Beaverton, Ontario.
Installment 5
Places · Lost Florence · Culture

The Hotel That Started Florence, and the Fight That Made It Famous

Before Florence had a downtown, it had a hotel. Archaeologists dug up its foundation in 2023 — under a downtown parking lot. This is the story of Gamble's Hotel, the 1865 skirmish at its door, and the city it quietly launched.

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Trees fallen from tornadoes caused by Hurricane Milton Palm Beach Gardens Florida
Installment 4
Decades > 1980s · Weather

Before Hugo, After Hugo

Hurricane Hugo made landfall on September 22, 1989. This is how the storm hit Florence — told through a firsthand account of riding it out at what was then Francis Marion College.

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Spring fair festival with local vendors, food trucks, and crowds under a blue sky capturing a lively community atmosphere
Installment 3
Culture · Lost Florence · Florence Firsts

Florence Had Pro Hockey. Then It Didn't. Now It Does Again.

From the Pee Dee Pride (1997–2005) to the Pee Dee IceCats (2025) — the full story of Florence's professional hockey history, and why the ice came back.

Read the full story
Diverse group of people connecting and supporting each other in a community circle
Installment 2
Places · Business · Culture

How Downtown Florence Came Back

From "a drunk too far gone to be saved" to the Great American Main Street Award — how a community rebuilt its own heart, block by block.

Read the full story
1 / 5 All Installments

What's Happening This Week

  • Florence Farmers Market

    Saturday mornings at Virginia Francis Park

  • City Council Meeting

    2nd Monday · 1:00 PM, 324 W. Evans Street

  • FMU Career Center

    Free resume critiquing & mock interviews · Founders Hall 220

The Latest From Front Porch Talk

Edition No. 9 · LATEST

A Marker, a School, and the Women Who Kept Going

Pull up a chair — the Palmetto School and the Florence County Foster Home for Negro Children finally get their marker on Stokes Road, plus a second Hope Village taking shape on North Douglas Street.

Read the latest edition
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150+
Active Local Jobs
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Available Scholarships
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