TheDutch Fork is an area of centralSouth Carolina that spans the counties ofLexington,Newberry, andRichland between theSaluda River and theBroad River. The two riversfork together here to form theCongaree River. The area is named after the original German settlers of the area, with the word "Dutch" an Anglicization of the termdeutsch (meaning "German" in the German language). Initial settlement of the area largely took place between 1730 and 1766, when the British authorities of theProvince of South Carolina offered incentives to foreignProtestants to settle in what was then the colony's backcountry.
The use of a German dialect has not survived in the Dutch Fork as it has to this day in thePennsylvania Dutch Country. German heritage is preserved mainly in place-names and family names as well as in the presence of a number ofLutheran churches, some dating back to the 18th century. Newberry remains the only county in South Carolina with a Lutheran population of over 10%.[1] The Dutch Fork Baptist Church was established in 1922.Dutch Fork High School, Dutch Fork Middle School, and Dutch Fork Elementary School are three of the nineteen schools in the Lexington and Richland County public school system's District Five, which covers much of the Lexington and Richland County portions of the Dutch Fork. The Dutch Square Center, a shopping mall, also preserves the old name. The Dutch Forkcultivar of theChina rose (Rosa chinensis) was developed in the area. Since 2005, a monthly newspaper,The Dutch Fork Chronicle, has been published.
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