Start Your Engines
When it comes to arts and entertainment, Darlington County has much to offer. From annual events like Darlington’s Sweet Potato Festival, to more frequent events such as Jazz Carolina and various Saturday Markets, entertainment is plentiful in Darlington County.
Darlington Raceway
Darlington County’s best known entertainment attraction is Darlington Raceway. Host to the Southern 500 on the Sunday before Labor Day, it is considered by many to be NASCAR’s greatest contest. Darlington Raceway has seen names like Pearson, Yarborough, Petty, and Earnhardt grace Victory Lane. On Mother’s Day weekend, the track hosts “Throwback” races for cup cars, Infinity cars, and trucks. Darlington Raceway is an active community partner, hosting or participating in numerous local events every year. In addition, it is a major economic driver for the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, generating over $54 million of economic impact for the area every year.
The raceway also offers a stock car museum and gift shop located on SC 151 next to the ticket office. In it you will find everything from old cars to modern ones, as well as a history lesson on stock car racing.
Kalmia Gardens
For a more contemplative kind of recreation, Kalmia Gardens of Coker University in Hartsville features 56 acres of thriving botanical attractions. A beautiful boardwalk runs down to and along Black Creek, a sensory garden, an herb garden and a memory garden. The gardens border the 700-acre Segars-McKinnon Heritage Preserve. Combined, the gardens and preserve cover an area almost as large as New York’s Central Park, earning Hartsville the nickname, “The Park with the City in It.”
Also accessible from Kalmia Gardens is the Sawyer Bike Path. The tree-lined path extends from just west of Kalmia Gardens and winds through the woods bordering the gardens and through a residential area before ending in downtown Hartsville.
Byerly Park
Byerly Park, located in the city of Hartsville, is a 93-acre multi-use recreation complex that features many outdoor sports venues, including five soccer fields, four softball/baseball fields, a 400-meter eight-lane track and field facility, two football fields and six tennis courts. For more leisurely recreation, the park has a 1.2 mile walking, jogging, and biking trail, a picnic area, 12 horseshoe pits, and two playgrounds. The Coach TB Thomas Sports Center is also located on the property, offering indoor activities like basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer, and a fitness center.
Byerly Park also has a water splash park, Piratesville Splash Pad, which features water jets, water cannons, dumping buckets and water slides. In 2018, the City of Hartsville opened a waterpark expansion project, Neptune Island Waterpark, that includes the Piratesville Splash Pad. The new waterpark hosts a capacity of 1,300 visitors, more than eight times the former Splash Pad. Guests enjoy more waterpark features, including a 1,000-foot lazy river, a zero entry pool, a wave pool, a speed body slide, a pair of tubular water slides and three mat racing slides. Cabana rentals, party huts, and food trucks make the new waterpark a celebrated destination for residents and visitors from throughout the region.
The Hartsville Museum
Located in downtown Hartsville, the Hartsville Museum features both permanent and traveling exhibits that focus on the history of Hartsville and the Pee Dee area. Housed in a 1930s post office building, the museum boasts a permanent collection of Native American artifacts found along the Pee Dee River, and the 1899 Locomobile Steam Car, the first automobile in South Carolina. The museum also has a Sculpture Courtyard, which features different types of sculpture.
Williamson Park
Williamson Park in Darlington features five miles of nature trails, a three-mile boardwalk, and a variety of birds, plants and trees, making it a great place for hiking, picnicking, or studying nature.Boardwalks, bridges, and footpaths allow visitors to see the more than 300 plant and animal species that flourish here. Nature enthusiast, bird watcher or those who just want a leisure walk through nature will enjoy the 1 mile Outer Loop Trail.
Coker Experimental Farms
Coker Experimental Farms in Hartsville was founded in the early 1900s by David R. Coker. Coker’s Pedigreed Seed Company developed new, improved varieties of crop seeds and the first cotton breeding program in the United States. A replica of the site’s original dairy barn houses exhibits that depict the company’s impact on Southern agriculture. Coker Experimental Farms is now a National Historic Landmark, one of only 14 representing the agricultural industry in the country.
Darlington County Historical Commission & Museum
Located in downtown Darlington, the Darlington County Historical Commission & Museum serves as the official repository of historical government and court records. Through the years, the Commission has also amassed a vast collection of material and artifacts that document the rich history of our people, places, and events. We are proud to serve as the Pee Dee’s primary stop for genealogical research and a key local history archive for general research. Currently we are adding an 8880 sq. ft. museum addition and when complete, we will offer patrons over 18,000 sq ft of archive and museum space to experience their local history.