Buford, SC

Buford is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lancaster County, South Carolina, at the intersection of South Carolina Highways 9 and 522. It first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 census, with 398 people. The community's name honors Colonel Abraham Buford, whose Continental troops were defeated at the Waxhaws in 1780; the battle later became known as Buford's Massacre. The battlefield is about a mile south of Buford High School, so the local road map and Revolutionary-era history meet at the same crossroads.

Buford High describes the school as the heart of the rural community, and Lancaster County School District also operates Buford Elementary and Buford Middle. The schools sit close to the Highway 9 and 522 junction, giving the place a civic center even though Buford has no incorporated town government. The name carries a hard historical edge, while the present-day community is organized around classrooms, county roads, and the families who use them. The local scoop is a small eastern Lancaster County crossroads where a Revolutionary battlefield sits just outside the school-and-highway center.