Phone: (843) 723-3225
Museum: 100 Meeting St.
Archives: 205 Calhoun St.
James Louis Petigru (May 10, 1789 – March 9, 1863) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist, Unionist, and the first president of the South Carolina Historical Society founded in 1855. The quote “South Carolina too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum,” has been widely attributed to Petigru as his opinion after South Carolina's decision to secede from the Union in December 1860.