Describe your county's political/demographic history

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

In 1786, Lexington County was formed as one four counties in the Orangeburg Judicial District (the others being Winton, Orange, and Lewisburg.  In 1791, the four counties in Orangeburg were dissolved with local government consolidated for the whole district. In 1801, those districts that had retained counties as subdivisions were split up with each former county becoming a judicial district of its own.  In 1804 Lexington District was formed from Orangeburg District on roughly the same boundaries as the short-lived 1786 county. In 1832, a portion of Orangeburg between the forks of the Edisto was added to Lexington as its westernmost portion. In 1868, the judicial districts were reorganized as counties, but it was not long before the new country shrank. In 1871, the land between the Edisto forks became the northeastern part of the newly formed Aiken County. 1908 saw Lexington County shrink further and assume its current shape as Calhoun County was formed from Orangeburg and Lexington Counties and it was around this time that portions of northern Lexington County were transferred to Newberry and Richland Counties.  (Originally all of the Dutch Fork area was part of Lexington County.)

Lexington County was settled in colonial times by German immigrants, which accounts for the fairly high number of Lutherans and Lutheran churches in the area compared to both the rest of South Carolina and the South as a whole.  The northern part of the county was characterized by small farms with larger plantations being found south of the sand hills that formed the fall line separating the piedmont from the low country.  (US 1 is a good approximation of the dividing line.)

Lexington County was largely a rural county with the exceptions of the towns along the railroad tracks. West Columbia (formerly Brookland) and Cayce were opposite Columbia and had mills and quarries.  Lexington had mills and the county seat. Batesburg and Leesville had mills and a number of major politicians who called the twin cities home, including George Bell Timmerman, Jr. (August 11, 1912 – November 29, 1994) the 105th Governor of South Carolina, from 1955 to 1959.  (And until the election of Nikki Haley, the only governor to hail from Lexington County.)

However, since World War II, Lexington County has experienced unending population growth as the suburbs of Columbia with a population today that is eight times what it was in 1940. It is overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly Republican in character.  The demographics in 2010 were 77.0% White, 14.1% Black, 5.5% Hispanic, 1.4% Asian, 2.0% Other. Since 1971 it has been the residence of the 2nd District Congressman, first Floyd Spence and then Joe Wilson.