With over 30,000 residents Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the South Carolina Railroad. It became part of Aiken County when the county was formed in 1871 from parts of Orangeburg, Lexington, Edgefield, and Barnwell counties.