Pickens, formerly called Pickens Courthouse, is a city in and the county seat of Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,126 at the 2010 census. Pickens changed its classification from a town to a city in 1998, but it was not reported to the Census Bureau until 2001. It was named after Andrew Pickens, an American revolutionary soldier and US Congressman for South Carolina.