Ron, I grew up in Marlboro Co., and have been doing research there for over twenty years. I was told by another researcher that the marriage records were simply tossed out by someone who did not realize their importance many years ago. There were no fires I have found one sheet of marriages that were researched and listed by an earlier genealogist, and stored at the Probate Judge's office and I have had them posted on the Marlboro genweb site. I have also added other marriages of the area as I find them, for I know how hard they are to locate. Working at the SC Archives in Columbia one summer with a fellow genealogist , we asked for some cardboard type boxes that are stored in the vaults there to be brought up having to do with Marlboro Co. There were several, and we went through them with the utmost care. There was a note attached to one group that simply stated that the papers were part of some county office that was being cleaned out, and rather than throw the papers away, they were scooped up and stored away somewhere in the County courthouse, and ended up at the Archives for safe keeping. (Thank goodness) So some things were preserved along the way when buildings were renovated, etc. The church histories are wonderful. And several church records are stored in college archives. Joanne