Editing Walhalla, South Carolina (section)

==History==

The German Colonization Society of Charleston was founded in 1848 to aid a wave of immigrants from the failures of the [[German revolutions of 1848-1849]] and settle them in [[Upstate South Carolina|The Upstate]]; in the aftermath, numerous liberal merchants and farmers immigrated to the United States. Society trustees including [[Johann Andreas Wagener|General John A. Wagener]], Claus Bullwinkel, John C. Henckel, Jacob Schroder, and Christopher F. Seeba bought {{convert|17859|acre|km2}} of land for $27,000 from Reverend Joseph Grisham of [[West Union, South Carolina|West Union]] in the Pickens District on December 24, 1849, to support German settlement in this area.<ref name="WalHistory">{{cite web|url=http://sciway2.net/2002/a76w/ |title=The History of Walhalla |publisher=South Carolina Information Highway |access-date=2007-12-19}}</ref>

As mostly political refugees, the German colonists named their settlement [[Valhalla]], in reference to the afterlife in [[Norse Mythology]] where warriors would go if selected to fight during [[Ragnarök]]. The Germans had sailed from the port of [[Hamburg]], Germany to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]]. Many were from [[Bavaria]], and the ship also carried some English and Scots-Irish immigrants.<ref name="WalHistory"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History of Walhalla – City of Walhalla |url=https://www.cityofwalhalla.com/about-walhalla/history-of-walhalla/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |language=en}}</ref>

When Oconee County was organized in 1868, Walhalla was selected as the county seat. After this the predominant German population was diluted and became outnumbered by an influx of new settlers, mostly former British settlers from surrounding counties such as [[Pickens County, South Carolina|Pickens]] and [[Anderson County, South Carolina|Anderson]].<ref name="South Carolina Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/walhalla/ |title=Walhalla|publisher=South Carolina Encyclopedia |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref>

[[Ellicott Rock]], [[Keil Farm]], [[Oconee County Cage]], [[Oconee Station and Richards House]], [[St. John's Lutheran Church (Walhalla, South Carolina)|St. John's Lutheran Church]], [[Stumphouse Tunnel Complex]], and [[Walhalla Graded School]] are natural formations and structures in Walhalla that have been listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

In 1988, Walhalla elected their first (and only) female mayor, Gladys Pepper.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oliver |first=Greg |date=2019-09-11 |title=Walhalla’s only female mayor dead at 84 |url=https://upstatetoday.com/news/walhalla-s-only-female-mayor-dead-at-84/article_fd1dda82-33fa-5e54-914c-b534e2a4e14f.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608203748/https://upstatetoday.com/news/walhalla-s-only-female-mayor-dead-at-84/article_fd1dda82-33fa-5e54-914c-b534e2a4e14f.html |archive-date=2024-06-08 |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=[[The Journal (Seneca, SC newspaper)|The Journal]]}}</ref>