Gaffney is a city in and the chair of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the “Peach Capital of South Carolina”. The population was 12,539 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 12,609 in 2019. It is the principal city of the Gaffney, South Carolina, Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 55,662 according to 2012 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau), which includes whatever of Cherokee County and which is other included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area (population 1,384,996 according to year 2012 U.S. Census Bureau estimates).

Michael A. Gaffney, born in Granard, Ireland, in 1775, emigrated to the United States in 1797, arriving in New York City and heartwarming to Charleston, South Carolina, a few years later. Gaffney moved again in 1804 to the South Carolina Upcountry and standard a tavern and lodging house at what became known as “Gaffney’s Cross Roads”. The location was perfect for growth because of the two major roads which met here, one from the mountains of North Carolina to Charleston and the new from Charlotte into Georgia. Michael Gaffney died here on September 6, 1854.

In 1872, the Place became known as “Gaffney City”. Gaffney became the county seat of Cherokee County which was formed out of parts of York, Union, and Spartanburg counties in 1897. Gaffney became a major middle for the textile industry in South Carolina, which was the backbone of the county’s economy up until the 1980s.

Despite the small amount of population growth, businesses and companies continue to locate within the city limits, especially along the blooming Floyd Baker Boulevard and Highway 105 and many supplementary areas within the city limits. However, most population buildup recently has occurred outside of the city limits.