FLORENCE, a city of north-eastern South Carolina, U.S.A., in the Pee Dee section of the coastal plain ; county seat of Flor ence county. It is on Federal highways 17, 76 and 6o1; has a municipal airport (144ac.) ; and is served by the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line railways. The population was io,968 in 1920 (43% negro) and was 14,774 in 193o by the Federal census. It is an important wholesale distributing centre, and has large railroad shops, lumber mills, sash and door and veneer fac tories and various other manufacturing industries. Hydro-electric power is available. Florence is the seat of the State industrial school for boys ; of an experiment station of Clemson college, and the district offices of its extension service; and of a boll-weevil laboratory of the Federal department of agriculture. The public library has an exceptionally good collection on Carolina colonial history. There is a beautiful national cemetery here, containing 3,019 graves. The city was founded about 1856 and incorporated as a city in 189o. It has a commission form of government. Between 190o and 192o the population increased 136%.