Varnville is a town in Hampton County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,169 as of the 2020 census. Varnville forms a twin town with Hampton, the county seat; the two towns often share civic and cultural events.
History
Varnville was founded by the Varn Brothers, who sold the right-of-way for railroad tracks through their sawmill in 1872, prior to Hampton County's founding. In 1878, Hampton County was created from Beaufort County, and the site for the county seat was located northwest of Varnville, eventually becoming the town of Hampton. Varnville grew as a result of its close proximity to the county seat as well as its connections with surrounding agricultural areas. In 1993, several scenes from the film Forrest Gump were shot in Varnville, of which some were used to create the fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama.
The Hattie J. Peeples House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Geography
Varnville is located in north-central Hampton County. It is bordered to the northwest by the town of Hampton. U.S. Route 278 (Carolina Avenue) is the main street through the town, leading northwest into Hampton (where it becomes Elm Street) and south to Ridgeland. South Carolina Highway 63 leads east from Varnville to Walterboro. Yemassee is to the southeast via US 278 and SC 68.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Varnville has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
{| class="wikitable"
|+Varnville racial composition
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|White (non-Hispanic)
|568
|34.03%
|-
|Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|1,033
|61.89%
|-
|Native American
|1
|0.06%
|-
|Asian
|5
|0.3%
|-
|Pacific Islander
|1
|0.06%
|-
|Other/Mixed
|30
|1.8%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino
|31
|1.86%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,669 people, 728 households, and 401 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census