SCplates.com - Pre-state issues

Pre-state issues should exist for all counties, but not all are accounted for. Most counties would issue vehicle owners a number, and it would be up to the owner to display it on the vehicle. Examples include numbers painted on bumpers; house numbers attached to a leather strip; numbers engraved in a block of wood. Most were porcelain, though, and contracted to Ingram-Richardson Mfg. Co. in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania or Baltimore Enamel and Novelty Co. in Maryland. To cover the cost of making porcelains, many examples feature advertising, almost always by the dealer that sold the car. Known advertising: Gibbes Machinery Co (Columbia), W.E Vernon (Florence), G.C. Chandler (Florence), D.W. Alderman (Florence), DuPre Auto Co. (Columbia)

black-and-white image from a collector magazine, circa 1980's:

Pre-state issues known from the following counties:

Abbeville

This is one of the few known leather surviving plates from SC. House numbers tacked to a metal-base, leather wrapped.

Aiken

Three porcelain variations known. Undated; 1914, 1917

Anderson

The only known example is leather, abbreviated AND

Bamberg

House numbers on wood

BarnwellTwo porcelain variations known to exist, both undated. One with Gibbes Machinery advertising logo.

Beaufort

One porcelain variety known: motorcycle-sized; undated

Charleston

One porcelain variety known; undated

Cherokee/Gaffney

One undated porcelain variety known. Marked both Cherokee and Gaffney.

Clarendon

One porcelain variety known; dated 1916

Darlington

Three porcelain varieties known, all undated. D.W. Alderman and W.E. Vernon advertising known.

Edgefield

One variety of undated porcelain known.

Florence

Three undated variations known - all have dealer advertisement: D.W. Alderman, W.E. Vernon and G.C. Chandler

Greenville

1915 metal known; 1917 porcelain known

Lexington

Undated porcelain known.

House numbers affixed to wood. (Courtesy of SC State Museum)

Newberry

Two undated porcelain varietys known.

Oconee

1916 and 1917 known. Both stenciled onto painted metal.

Orangeburg

Two undated porcelain varieties known; one with D.W. Alderman advertising logo.

One stenciled on wood known.

Richland/Columbia

Believed to be the first known issue in South Carolina, beginning in 1910. Black plate is believed to have been in use for multiple years. 1916 motorcycle-sized porcelain known.

Gibbes Machinery Co. (shown) and DuPre Auto Co. advertising known on undated porcelains.

Saluda One undated porcelain variety known.

SpartanburgUndated porcelain known; 1916 porcelain known; 1916 motorcycle, curved fender porcelain known.

SumterOne undated porcelain variety known.

credit for some photos, and for more information, see http://porcelainplates.net/southcarolina_archive.html

Local (city) plates are rare. Only large cities are believed to have issued local plates, generally only for use within the city for vehicle types such as buggies, taxis (hacks) or parking enforcement. Known issues are below:

1926 Charleston