Florence, city, seat of Florence County, northeastern South Carolina; incorporated 1890. It is a railroad hub and the commercial and distribution center for a rich agricultural region. Major manufactures include electronic equipment, textiles, processed food, paper and wood, plastic, and metal products. Francis Marion College (1970), the Florence Air and Missile Museum, and the Florence Museum of Art, Science and History are here. The community, established in 1853 as a railroad junction, was first known as Wilds and was renamed Florence by the 1860s. Population 29,176 (1980); 29,813 (1990); 30,248 (2000).
