SC 34 begins as a hidden highway in downtown Greenwood, at the intersection of Main Street and Maxwell Avenue. On city and state official maps, SC 34 is on an east parallel to U.S. Route 25 Business and US 178 Bus. along Main Street with some sections being in concurrency; however, no signage identifies this unique relationship, thus the hidden status for. At the intersection of Main Street and Ninety Six Highway, the first signage of SC 34 appears, heading east to Ninety Six. SC 34 travels through the town of Ninety Six and near the Ninety Six National Historic Site. Near Newberry, it takes a bypass route along Dixie Drive and Wilson Road, before continuing east to Winnsboro. Now going southeast, it goes through Ridgeway, to Lugoff, where it overlaps with US 1/US 601 to Camden. Continuing east and parallel to Interstate 20, SC 34 joins with US 15 at Bishopville and skirts north of Lee State Park. East of Lydia, SC 34 separates from US 15 and goes directly to Darlington. Heading in a northeasterly direction now, it goes through Brownsville then east into downtown Dillon, where it ends at the intersection of Main Street and Second Avenue.
History
An original part of the South Carolina state route system, in 1922 the road ran from Darlington to Ridgeway. In 1933 the road was extended to Dillon and about 1943 a bridge over the Pee Dee river was opened. In the early 1950s the road was extended to Greenwood, creating the current configuration. SC 34 was bypassed south around Newberry in 1976 and the original route through the town remained as SC 34 Business. The first part of the road to be paved was the section though Camden in 1929. Over the next several years other parts were paved until the road was fully paved by the early 1940s. During the past several decades, much of the route has been widened to four lanes.
SC 34 Business was established in 1976, following the old mainline route through downtown Newberry, via Boundary Street, Caldwell Street and Main Street. Sometime between 2006-2010 the route was decommissioned.
Newberry connector
SC 34 Connector is an unsigned connector route southwest of downtown Newberry. It travels along Dixie Drive for between Kendall Street and SC 34.
Darlington connector
SC 34 Connector is a connector route southwest of downtown Darlington. The highway is named Lamar Highway and connects US 401 at its intersection with US 52 with SC 34. Though it is not signed with a typical auxiliary signage plate and SC 34 shield, green highway signs at both ends denote the road as the "34–401 Connector."
