The school primarily serves the communities of Wade Hampton and Taylors, South Carolina.

[citation needed] Wade Hampton High School takes its name from Wade Hampton III who was one of the largest slave owners in the country, and went on to serve in the confederate army and as the governor of South Carolina.

His campaign as governor was marked by extensive violence by the Red Shirts, a paramilitary group that served the Democratic Party by disrupting elections and suppressing black and Republican voting in the state.

[6] Wade Hampton consistently scores higher than both the national and state averages on tests such as the SAT, ACT, and EOC.

The 1968 football team finished with a 10–1 record and met the Greenwood High School Emeralds for the first South Carolina state 4A championship, resulting in a loss.