Wedding & Event Venue Near Lexington, SC

LEXINGTON, SC

In our Uniquely series, The State journalists bring you the quirky and cool, historic and infamous, beloved and unforgettable, and everything-in-between stories of what makes the Midlands remarkable. Read more. Story idea? statenews@thestate.com.

Most people may not associate the holiday season with dinosaurs, but that’s the vibe at the Price household.

The yard of the house on Augusta Road/Highway 1 just outside Lexington is crawling with dinos of various sizes. The creatures made out of insulation foam board frolic amid the twinkle of the Christmas lights on the side of the highway.

“It’s become a bit of a landmark,” said Christopher Price, the dinosaurs’ creator.

The self-employed handyman made his first dinosaur a couple years ago for his two sons, now 8 and 6 years old. The originals went up for Halloween in 2022, and have returned every year since then with new additions. The total collection now includes 11 dinosaurs, Price said.

The giant lizards are otherwise packed away for most of the year, except for the largest piece, a tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed “Lex,” which has become a permanent feature of the Price yard.

But Price took his time packing up this year, and eventually asked his family if he should leave them up through Christmas. His wife was cool to the idea, but the boys were excited to keep them around. “Sorry, you’ve been outvoted,” he said he told his wife.

Each dinosaur represents a specific species, from a pterodactyl to a velociraptor. But the most detailed is actually his first attempt, an ankylosaurus or “armored dinosaur” with distinct individual scales, a tail club and spikes grafted into the foam.

From the front, Price’s dinosaurs look textured and ferocious, illuminated at night so they stay clearly visible to passing cars on the highway. But walk around back and it becomes clear they’re flat boards propped up with just enough give that they will sway in the wind without snapping at the legs.

Price hadn’t taken on such a mammoth construction project as the dinosaurs before, until he made his son a set of megalodon shark teeth wide enough to swallow a little boy. Now he has a spinosaurus that stretches 24 feet long and 11 feet tall. That one might be dwarfed by his next planned addition, a brontosaurus that will tower 24 feet over the family yard.

The display takes its inspiration from the movie “Jurassic Park,” including a version of the iconic Jeep from the movie, which is crossing over a stream of blue Christmas lights in Price’s yard. He even built a triceratops laying on its side to replicate the sick dinosaur in the movie.

“I still get goosebumps watching that,” Price said.

This year, Price painted Lex a bright pink as part of a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research and treatment. The T. rex is inscribed with the names of some 80 people who are or have battled cancer. The society’s fall campaign, including pink Lex, ended up raising $1,500, Price said.

“I had a lot of fun with that, and it’s for a good cause,” Price said. “I’ll probably do that for years to come.”

Over the years, Price’s dinosaur display has attracted a lot of attention, especially since his house sits on a busy stretch of highway heading into and out of Lexington. This past Halloween — when the dinosaurs were paired with skeletons rather than Christmas lights — he estimates he had 300 trick-or-treaters stop by the house, all of them wanting to get their picture taken with the dinosaur.

“I’ve got other ideas, but I can’t get away from dinosaurs,” he said. “That’s kind of what’s given me my notoriety.”

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - A student at Irmo High School was identified as the victim of a deadly crash on St. Andrew’s Road Monday night.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher identified the teen as 16-year-old Brittany Rosalinda Valencia, of Columbia.

According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Valencia was heading eastbound on St. Andrews Road when she crashed with a car traveling westbound. Valencia was pronounced dead on the scene.

The high school’s principal, Kaaren W. Hampton, Ph.D, sent the following message to families following the death of the student:

“Dear Yellow Jacket Family,

It is with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news of the passing of one of our students. This heartbreaking event has deeply affected our entire school community, and I wanted to ensure you were informed so that you can discuss it with your child.

Last evening, one of our students, Brittany Valencia, was involved in a car accident and tragically passed away. Brittany was an outstanding young woman who touched the lives of many in our school community.

To support our students, staff, and families during this difficult time, we have made counselors available to anyone who needs assistance. Counselors will be available tomorrow for student and staff support.

It’s understandable to be concerned about how this tragedy might impact your child. Changes in their behavior could be a sign that they need support in coping with the loss of a peer. If you feel your child may need additional support, please do not hesitate to contact the school at 803-476-3000, and we will be available to assist.

Thank you for your support as we navigate this difficult time together. We are grateful for the thoughts and prayers from our community for Brittany’s family and all those who are grieving this loss."

The Lexington County Coroner’s Office and South Carolina Highway Patrol continue to investigate the incident.

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In our Reality Check stories, The State journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? Email statenews@thestate.com.

Lexington is one of the fastest growing counties in South Carolina. Or is it?

As the area west of the Congaree River and Columbia and Richland County continues to deal with a variety of new developments and corresponding issues such as maintaining local roads, the quickness of the county’s population growth is both frequently cited and frequently questioned by local leaders and residents arguing passionately about how they want the place they call home to look heading into the future.

So, just how fast is Lexington County growing? How does it compare with other counties in South Carolina? And what indicators should we look to when making those determinations?

It’s first important to consider that Lexington County sits in a state and region where the population is growing quickly, said Jerry Mitchell, chair of the geography department at the University of South Carolina. In 2023, the state was the nation’s fastest growing, seeing an uptick of 1.7%.

“The Western and Southwestern and Southeastern parts of the United States are growing faster,” Mitchell said, but he noted that this doesn’t mean all states in these regions are gaining population.

“Mississippi and Louisiana have lost population. It’s not just California, New York,” he added. “But South Carolina, depending what time frame you look at, we’ve been No. 1.”

So when Lexington County charts anywhere near the top of the heap for growth in S.C. counties, that means it’s growing quickly compared to many other parts of the country.

Mitchell said the most accurate measure of growth is the official U.S. census, done every 10 years. During the most recent frame counted, 2010 to 2020, Lexington’s growth rate of 12.04% ranked No. 11 among South Carolina’s 46 counties. The county added nearly 32,000 people during that time to claim a 2020 population of nearly 294,000.

During that same period, coastal Horry County, home of Myrtle Beach, topped the list with a growth rate of 30.35%, adding nearly 82,000 people to claim a 2020 population exceeding 351,000.

A better understanding of trends and short-term growth can be found in the annual estimates the U.S. Census Bureau provides in between its full once-a-decade counts, Mitchell said.

“The census also does something called an American Community Survey, where they survey [more than 3.5 million] households across the country each year, and they make sure they get representation in each state,” he said.

The numbers culled from this process say much the same about Lexington County’s population increase from 2010 to 2020, as its growth rate of 7.02% between 2010 and 2015 ranked No. 10 in the state and its mark of 7.84% between 2015 and 2020 also ranked No. 10.

U.S. census numbers in more recent years show that Lexington’s growth ranking hasn’t really changed much.

Estimates show that Lexington grew by 5.3% between 2020 and 2023, gaining more than 15,500 people to claim a population of nearly 310,000 and ranking No. 11 in the state in terms of percentage growth during that stretch. Lexington’s rank slips to No. 15 when you look at the numbers from between 2022 and 2023, when the county grew by about 1.4% as it added more than 4,400 people. It remains the state’s sixth most populous county.

But Lexington is outpacing its more populated neighbor, Richland County.

Richland’s estimated population as of 2023 is more than 425,000, but its growth ranked No. 21 at 2.2% between 2020 and 2023 (adding nearly 9,000 people) and No. 23 at 0.9% between 2022 and 2023 (adding more than 3,600 people).

Mitchell cautioned that judging growth by percentages doesn’t always paint an accurate picture. He pointed to Jasper County, which sat at No. 1 in terms of percentage growth in the state between 2022 and 2023, having grown by 4.9%. But in terms of raw population, it gained fewer than 1,600 people.

“That’s like a hiccup,” Mitchell said.

When it comes to the sheer number of people added, Jasper ranked No. 16 between 2022 and 2023, while Lexington ranked No. 6 and Richland ranked No. 9. Horry County led the way, ranking No 1 with its addition of more than 14,300 people. (Horry’s percentage growth of 3.7% ranked No. 3.)

Looking at the official U.S. census numbers, Lexington’s addition of nearly 31,600 between 2010 and 2020 ranked No. 9 in the state, just below Richland’s 31,649. Horry topped the list with its nearly 82,000.

Gregory Sprouse, director of research, planning and development for the Central Midlands Council of Governments, said there’s another metric to look at as far as how much a county might grow moving forward.

“We’ve always felt like residential building permit activity is a pretty good indicator of growth,” he said, noting that the Building Industry Association of Central SC maintains a database of these numbers for counties in the Midlands.

According to the association’s numbers, compared to its neighbors in Richland and Kershaw County (where the 2023 population was estimated to be nearly 70,000), a lot of building permits are being issued in Lexington County. Every year since 2013, more permits have been issued in Lexington than in Richland:

But it’s unclear exactly when and how building permit activity will translate into real growth.

“If you’re seeing permits issued now, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those same units are going to have certificates of occupancy over the next year,” Sprouse said. “Sometimes it can take a lot longer for things to fully build out.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2024, 5:00 AM.

A new spot where folks can get their fix for coffee and more is headed to Lexington.

Canal Coffee Co., a growing company with locations in the Carolinas and elsewhere, is prepping a new spot at 510 Columbia Ave. There’s a large sign at the property announcing that the coffee spot is “brewing soon,” and the project has been listed in town of Lexington planning and zoning documents in recent months.

An opening date for the Lexington Canal Coffee has not been publicly announced. Construction on the site was underway on Monday morning when a reporter went by.

Canal Coffee Co. has eight existing locations in South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida, according to the company’s website. Current S.C. locations include a spot on Summit parkway in Columbia, a shop on Broad River Road in Irmo and one on Main Street in South Congaree near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

The menu at Canal includes a host of traditional and specialty coffees, including seasonal menus such as the current fall collection. That roster includes the fall harvest cold brew, which is a cold brew mixed with brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin, topped with shortbread cold foam. Canal also serves energy drinks, teas, smoothies and hot breakfast items such as spicy sausage biscuits.

The Canal Coffee on Columbia Avenue will be in a high-traffic spot in Lexington, northwest of downtown. Nearly 33,000 cars per day travel down that section of Columbia Avenue, per state Department of Transportation data. The coffee place will be near a number of other commercial businesses, including a Pizza Hut next door, and a Best Western hotel and Applebee’s restaurant across the street.

It will also sit a couple blocks away from an outpost of CLUTCH Coffee Bar, another growing coffee chain in the Carolinas that is making inroads in the Midlands.

The State

Chris Trainor is a retail reporter for The State and has been working for newspapers in South Carolina for more than 20 years, including previous stops at the (Greenwood) Index-Journal and the (Columbia) Free Times. He is the winner of numerous South Carolina Press Association awards, including honors in column writing, government beat reporting, profile writing, food writing, business beat reporting, election coverage, social media and more.