Georgetown County, South Carolina: History and Information

Georgetown County, South Carolina

Georgetown County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Georgetown
Year Organized: 1769
Square Miles: 815

Court House:

P.O. Drawer 421270
County Courthouse
Georgetown, SC 29442-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Georgetown is named for George II of Great Britain.

Demographics:

History

Georgetown County and its county seat were named for King George II of England. Spanish explorers are believed to have visited this coastal area in 1526, but no permanent settlement was established. English planters and their African slaves moved into the region in the early eighteenth century, building large rice and indigo plantations. The town of Georgetown, which was established around 1730, was a busy port serving the surrounding plantations. Georgetown District was first named in 1769 and in 1785 the district was divided into four counties: Liberty (which became Marion District in 1800), Kingston (which became Horry District in 1801), Williamsburg (which became a separate district in 1804), and Winyah (which was renamed Georgetown in 1800). Many famous South Carolinians were residents of Georgetown County, including Thomas Lynch, Jr. (1749-1779), a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), U.S. Congressman, Secretary of War, and Ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the poinsettia to the U.S.; and Joseph Hayne Rainey (1832-1887), the first African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,035 square miles (2,681 km²), of which, 815 square miles (2,110 km²) of it is land and 220 square miles (570 km²) of it (21.27%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Marion County, South Carolina - north

Horry County, South Carolina - northeast

Berkeley County, South Carolina - southwest

Charleston County, South Carolina - southwest

Williamsburg County, South Carolina - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Andrews

town

Incorporated Area

- Georgetown (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Pawleys Island

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

South Carolina State...

South Carolina

South Carolina Counties

Georgetown County, South Carolina

Georgetown County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Geography

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide

Penn Foster High School