[6] The first European settlers in Union County came from the backcountry of Virginia and Pennsylvania; more than three-fourths were Scots-Irish Presbyterians.

According to tradition, Mr. McElwaine, a member of the party looked out at the thick woodlands and exclaimed, "What a fair forest!"

At the time of their arrival, wild buffalo and horses abounded as well as panthers and cougars, which were called "tigers" or "tygers" by the settlers.

[7] The early settlers established Fairforest Presbyterian Church, the first house of worship in Union County.

In 1791, the South Carolina Legislature established a district court that included Spartanburg, Union, Chester, and York counties.

The area was called the Pinckney District and its headquarters was established at a central location in Union County.

Subsequently, the Pinckney District was abolished; with the loss of the court and associated businesses, Pinckneyville became a ghost town.

[6] During the early 1800s settlers developed large-scale cotton growing in the fertile soil of southern Union County, based on the use of enslaved labor.

The northern section of the county was mostly home to yeoman farmers and small scale planters who owned fewer slaves.

Many local men rushed to enlist in the Confederate Army and numerous units of Union County soldiers served on battlefields across the South.

On April 20, 1861, a strange object appeared in the sky above the Kelly-Kelton community of northeastern Union County.

The locals crowded around this mysterious object, many insisting that Lowe be "shot on the spot," as they believed him to be a Northern spy.

Eventually he would make it back to the North and work with the Union Army on aerial reconnaissance projects during the war.

At the close of the war, Confederate President Jefferson Davis came through Union County following the fall of Richmond in 1865.

[6] Following the war, a system of sharecropping and tenant farming was established to take the place of slavery and provide a consistent labor force.

The county was known for widespread Ku Klux Klan violence during this time period, against what many inhabitants saw as the excesses of ‘carpetbagger’ government.

In the 1920’s, Ezra A. Cook published ‘Ku Klux Klan Secrets Exposed’, which gave this example: “Headquarters, Ninth Division, S. C. Special Orders, No.

Workers, or operatives as they were called, lived in company-owned housing and obtained their food and other household goods from the company store.

In the 1930s, the federal government bought large portions of poor quality land in southern Union County and established the Sumter National Forest.

Many Union natives enlisted in the Second World War while developments continued in both urban and rural areas of the county.

Cotton production and agricultural acreage was steadily declining and by 1944 Union County was 53 percent "forest land."

The final departure of the textile industry was complete by the 1990s and this left a hole in the county's economy and cultural identity.

In recent years, new specialty industries have taken the place of agriculture and textiles; two things that characterized the early history of Union County.

[24] As of April 2024, some of the top employers of the county include Adecco Staffing, CSL Plasma, Dollar General, Gestamp, Milliken & Company, Sonoco, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Timken Company, University of South Carolina Union, and Walmart.

Union County High School's Yellow Jackets Football team has seen great success in recent past.

The Yellow Jackets were led to their three most recent championships by former head coach and current State Representative Mike Anthony.

Union County High School's Junior ROTC program is only one of three teams in the nation to ever go four consecutive years to The George C. Marshall Leadership and Academic Bowl in Washington, DC.

Members of that team included Michael Leigh, Tommy McKelvey, Micheal Stewart, Lucas Kelley, Ollie Burns, and Mitchell Ward.