At the beginning of the 20th century, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie funded the creation of thousands of libraries across the U.S., including 15 in South Carolina. The first of these in the state was the Carnegie Free Library in Union County, commissioned in 1903 and built in 1905. Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Wheeler & Runge, the library became a local landmark with its notable architectural features. Today, it remains one of only four Carnegie Libraries still standing in South Carolina and fewer than 1,000 nationwide.