Stories of Where.
StoryMaps
In so many ways, rice touches everything South Carolina was, is and will become.
It left an indelible mark on the landscape and on the story of America.
Forty centuries ago, South Carolina's early coastal dwellers left their marks on the Lowcountry landscape – some in monumental ways.
Animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide . Plants do the opposite. Without them, we would not be here.
Some plants have been on South Carolina's landscape for millions of years. Some are common, like longleaf pine and marsh grass, and some are found nowhere else on Earth.
They all have stories that hold our past and inform our future. Here are six.
The natural resources of a place – geography, geology, flora and fauna – have every effect on the human events that transpire there. Nowhere is more emblematic of this cause and effect than Port Royal Sound.
Any student of South Carolina history will tell you that America’s story always runs through this state. The Heritage Trust Program is a prime example.
In 1974, South Carolina led the nation by establishing a program to protect its natural and cultural heritage properties – sites that tell a uniquely South Carolina story.
As the stories of human history are written, there is a constant in the preface for each and every chapter. The natural resources of a place – the geography, geology, flora and fauna – are the prime movers for the events that will occur there. Nowhere is it more true than in the Old Edgefield District of South Carolina.
© 2025
Esri builds ArcGIS, the world’s leading GIS mapping software supporting customers with geographic science and geospatial analytics.
Esri calls it The Science of Where.
Just before the pandemic, Esri updated a companion application, StoryMaps, allowing for the integration of video, text, images, and graphics.
Koelker & Associates used the application for a growing series of StoryMaps to support the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources' Heritage Trust Program.