South Carolina H 5176: Judge Joseph Wilson McGowan III Memorial Highway

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5176 Text of Previous Version (May. 06, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5176

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Recalled

May 6, 2026

H. 5176

Introduced 
by Rep. Willis 

S. Printed 5/6/26--S.

Read the first time March 10, 2026

________

A concurrent RESOLUTION

To Request the Department of Transportation 
name the portion of United States Highway 76 (Hillcrest Drive) in the City of 
Laurens in Laurens County from the intersection of North Harper Street to 
Hillcrest Square "Judge Joseph Wilson McGowan III Memorial Highway" and erect 
appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

Whereas, the 
Honorable Joseph W. McGowan III was born on February 4, 1952, in Charleston, 
the son of Joseph W. McGowan Jr. and Ellen Virginia Mims McGowan. He attended 
Charleston area public schools and graduated from St. Andrew's Parish High 
School; and

Whereas, while 
in high school, he played keyboards for a number of groups, among them the 
Miracle Makers, the Shoresmen, the Dawks, the Malibus, the Testament, and the 
Counts at venues in Charleston, Columbia, on Folly Beach, the Isle of Palms, and 
as far away as Boston, backing up recording artists that included the Original 
Drifters, Major Lance, and the Tams; and

Whereas, Judge 
McGowan furthered his education earning a bachelor's degree with honors from 
Newberry College in 1974, where he was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Order 
social fraternity, becoming the chapter's president his senior year. He later 
was admitted into the fraternity's Graves Province Court of Honor; and

Whereas, the 
judge earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of South Carolina 
School of Law in 1978 and entered private practice with the law firm of 
Abercrombie & McGowan in Laurens. He served as a commissioner of public 
works for the City of Laurens, and he served on the University of South 
Carolina Board of Visitors. He was said to be a proud Gamecock; and

Whereas, he was 
elected to the Eighth Judicial Circuit Family Court of South Carolina on 
February 10, 1999, to serve Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry 
counties. Judge McGowan held this post for nearly two decades before retiring 
in 2017 and starting what would become a successful mediation practice; and

Whereas, the 
Honorable Judge Joseph Wilson McGowan III passed away on Saturday, May 31, 
2025, following a life well lived as a family man and true public servant. It 
is only right and fitting that he is remembered with a portion of highway in 
the City of Laurens named in his memory. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by 
the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members 
of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, request the Department 
of Transportation name 
the portion of United States Highway 76 (Hillcrest Drive) in the City of 
Laurens in Laurens County from the intersection of North Harper Street to 
Hillcrest Square "Judge Joseph Wilson McGowan III Memorial Highway" and erect 
appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

Be it further 
resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of 
Transportation.

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This web page was last updated on May 06, 2026 at 05:41 PM