Millford Plantation near Wedgefield was built by S.C. Gov. John L. Manning, a signer of the Ordinance of Secession.
Wedgefield, a community in western Sumter County, was named because it was like a “wedge” into the High Hills of Santee. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was the location of the plantations of Gov. Richard Irvine Manning III (1859- 1931); Wyndham Meredith
Manning, (1890- 1967), son of Richard Irvine Manning III, born in Wedgefield; and Sarah Angelica Singleton, daughter of Col. Richard Singleton, married Abraham
Van Buren at her parent’s home in Wedgefield. Her father-in- law, Martin Van Buren, was president of the United States, and she served as First Lady.
When the railroad came through in the 19th century, Wedgefield developed at the intersection of the railroad, the Kings Highway (SC Highway 261), and Wedgefield Road (SC Highway 763). CSX Transportation, formerly the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, runs through Wedgefield, but doesn’t stop.
Ellerbes Mill was built on a 90-acre mill pond near Wedgefield and has been in operation since before the Civil War. The building was once a center for social and political interaction in rural Sumter County. It was listed in the National Register in 1974.
In the 2000 census, 3,376 people lived in 1,343 houses in 72 square miles. Wedgefield has a post office, a few stores, a state park, a state forest, a fishing camp, and important cemeteries including: Singleton’s Graveyard Melrose Plantation (National Register of Historic Places); Wedgefield Baptist Church Cemetery; Wedgefield Methodist Church Cemetery; and Wedgefield Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
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