Cherokee

Cherokee, county, northern South Carolina, U.S. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south by the Pacolet River, and to the southeast by the Broad River, into which the Pacolet flows at the county’s southern tip. The county lies in a hilly, industrial piedmont region.

Within the county’s borders are Cowpens National Battlefield and a portion of Kings Mountain National Military Park, the sites of decisive 1780–81 colonial victories over Tory and British soldiers in the U.S. War of Independence. Prior to the American Civil War the area was a centre of iron mining and smelting. Cherokee county was established in 1897 and named for the Cherokee Indians, who lived in the region at the time of early colonial settlement.

Textiles, frozen foods, and industrial equipment are principal products. Peaches are the leading crop in a region of diversified agriculture. Gaffney is the county seat and the eastern terminus of the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. Area 393 square miles (1,017 square km). Pop. (2000) 52,532; (2010) 55,342.