Florence County Museum

The Florence County Museum reflects the region’s rich artistic, cultural and historic heritage. Through a dynamic range of exhibitions, studios, lectures and family programming, the FCM provides an engaging educational experience to visitors of all ages.Collection highlights in local history include: Cretaceous period reptile material, an 18 ft. tall Ancient Bald Cypress trunk sub-fossil, Native American and Colonial period artifacts, Civil War artifacts from the Florence Stockade prison camp and Confederate Naval Yard at Mars Bluff, artifacts related to the life and career of former FBI agent and Florence County native Melvin Purvis and fragments of the MK-6 atomic bomb that was accidentally dropped on the Mars Bluff community in 1958.In addition to the aforementioned historical highlights, our permanent collection includes works by celebrated 20th century African-American artist and Florence, South Carolina native, William H. Johnson: featuring works on paper and oil paintings, each representing distinct periods of the artist’s development.It is also of note that the Florence County Museum is home to The Wright Collection of Southern Art a prestigious volume of over 140 works representing some of the finest in 20th century Southern Art. This collection boasts works by Thomas Hart Benton, Alfred Hutty, Helen Hyde, Alice Huger Smith, Anna Heyward Taylor, Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, Palmer Schoppe, Mary Whyte and Stephen Scott Young.The Florence County Museum is equally committed to providing a platform for contemporary artists as the host of the Pee Dee Regional Art Competition, South Carolina’s oldest juried art competition. The Pee Dee Regional Art Competition has been showcasing the best in southern contemporary art since 1954.