About the Pee Dee Research Center Turfgrass Research and Education Programs at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center About the Pee Dee Research and Education Center .
Agriculture is an important component of the economic well being of the citizens of South Carolina.
More than 55 percent of the state s crops are grown and harvested in the 16 county Pee Dee region. Florence is the hub of the Pee Dee , which is named for the river flowing through its center. Florence was selected in 1911 as the site for a branch station of the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, administered by Clemson University. When the original Pee Dee Experiment Station was established on the Darlington Highway in 1911, it was well removed from the business and residential sections of Florence. Growth of the city and increased need for land for agricultural experimentation and development led to the acquisition in 1972 of 2,300 acres of fields, forests and wetlands, the present site.