Ninety Six National Historic Site

Ninety Six National Historic Site marks where settlers struggled for survival, Cherokees hunted and fought, and two Revolutionary War battles were waged.

The unusual name was given to this area by early traders in the 1700's because they mistakenly believed it was the estimated number of miles to the Cherokee village of Keowee in the upper South Carolina foothills. By the early 1700's, Ninety-Six village reached its peak with a growing population, 12 houses and a newly constructed courthouse and jail. Ninety-Six figured prominently in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution.

The first land battle south of New England was fought here in 1775 and in 1780, the British fortified the strategically important frontier town. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene with 1,000 patriot troops staged the longest (yet unsuccessful) siege of the Revolutionary War against 550 loyalists who were defending Ninety-Six.