Cotton
Ghost town · York County, South Carolina

Cotton is a ghost town in York County, South Carolina. It is one of 9 former communities in York County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 16th among the 43 South Carolina counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Cotton as a historical populated place on the Lockhart topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 34.8315° N, 81.4220° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Lockhart |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 577 ft |
| Nearest living town | Lockhart, SC |
| Distance to it | 3.5 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 1233678 |
| Coordinates | 34.83152, -81.42204 |
What's there now
Cotton is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Lockhart, SC (population 411), about 3.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 577 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Gouldghost town · York County · 2.5 mi
- Boraxghost town · York County · 3.1 mi
- Calvinghost town · Chester County · 3.8 mi
- No Mans Landghost town · Union County · 4.4 mi
- Simmon Treeghost town · Union County · 4.8 mi
- Pine Treeghost town · Union County · 5 mi
- Beauty Spotghost town · York County · 5.2 mi
- Clarksonghost town · Chester County · 6 mi
- Bailey Townghost town · Union County · 6.9 mi
- Ettaghost town · Cherokee County · 7.8 mi
- Gowdeysvilleghost town · Cherokee County · 9.9 mi
- Flat Rockghost town · Union County · 10 mi
Questions
Where is Cotton?
Cotton is in York County, South Carolina, at 34.8315, -81.4220.
How many ghost towns are in York County?
York County, South Carolina has 9 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.