Editing Nichols, South Carolina (section)

== History ==
The town was founded around the same time as [[Marion, South Carolina|Marion]] and [[Mullins, South Carolina|Mullins]], which was sometime after 1854 and was initially known as Floydsville. This was due to the land being on Harman Floyd's land that was sold off as town lots after his passing. These lots were surrounding depots for the [[Wilmington and Manchester Railroad]]. The town experienced a minor boom due to the [[turpentine]] industry, which shortly died out and was replaced by the [[tobacco industry]]. Later on, the town was renamed to its current title of Nichols, this time to honor Averett B. Nichols, who was a businessman that built a warehouse and store to take advantage of the tobacco boom and owned other stores in the town beside those of John H. Stroud and C. R. Ford. Following [[World War II]], a popular employer was a local store focusing in furniture that went by the name Pilliod of Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Clark|first=Thelma|title=Marion County|url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/marion-county/|access-date=July 21, 2020|website=South Carolina Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Marion County, South Carolina, History|url=http://genealogytrails.com/scar/marion/history9.html#nic|access-date=July 22, 2020|website=genealogytrails.com}}</ref>

The town suffered severe flooding from [[Hurricane Matthew]] from the nearby [[Lumber River]] in 2016. Five months after the hurricane, 216 of the town's 261 homes remained vacant. Two of six churches remained closed, as were 15 of 22 businesses, the library, and most of the fire and police department resources. Mayor Lawson Battle suggested that the State House request that the Senate requisition $700,000 to help repair nearly 400 water-damaged buildings, replace vehicles, and reopen government offices. State Senator Kent Williams proposed this money be taken from the $4.5 million left over from a 2015 farmer aid package for storm damage.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilks|first1=Avery|date=March 9, 2017|title=Hurricane-ravaged Nichols pleads for state aid|work=The State|url=https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article137552403.html|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref>