If you drive through Allendale on Route 301 or Route 278 without stopping and getting to know people and neighborhoods, you will miss some of the most beautiful gardens in South Carolina. And it is not just private home gardens; the people of Allendale have come together in recent years to incorporate gardening in some of the public areas and streets.
Allendale is one of the few places in the U.S. with European style streets that are divided with an island down the middle. Boulevards of this type are common in France and Spain, but rare in the U.S. The county administration building at left faces one of these streets. Volunteers from the town have planted roses that are in full bloom in the month of April. The fountain at the top of this page sits in a lovely pond surrounded by a ring of trees on the expansive lawn the the USC Salkahatchie campus. Again, it would be easy to miss if you are just driving through.