Colonial (pre-contact to 1763)
182 highway markers.
Abbeville County
Aiken County
Barnwell County
Beaufort County
- 07-01BeaufortSecond Oldest Town In South Carolina/Authorized by the Lords Proprietors, December 20, 1710,/ Chartered January 17, 1711...
- 07-46Daufuskie IslandThis 5,200-acre island lies between the Cooper and New Rivers. Spanish and English explorers saw it in 1521 and 1663; En...
- 07-48Fairfield PlantationThis 756-acre plantation was established before the American Revolution by planter Benjamin Garden (1736-1789), for whom...
- 07-18Fish Hall PlantationThis plantation was part of a 1717 Proprietary landgrant of 500 acres to Col. John Barnwell. Later owners included membe...
- 07-47Gardens CornerGardens Corner was a junction of two significant roads long before the American Revolution. The King’s Highway (now U.S....
- 07-11Hilton HeadA prominent landmark for mariners since the voyages of the early Spanish explorers, this headland was known to the Engli...
- 07-53Intracoastal WaterwayArcheological evidence suggests human activity on Daufuskie Island as early as 12,000 B.C., with seasonal habitation tie...
- 07-56Parris IslandEuropean occupation of Parris Island dates to the French Charlesfort, 1562-1563. The Spanish built Santa Elena 1566-1587...
- 07-20Pinckney IslandInhabited for some 10,000 years, Pinckney Island was known as Espalanga, Look-out, and Mackey's prior to about 1775. Ale...
- 07-04Prince William's Parish Church/ Sheldon ChurchThese ruins are of Prince William’s Parish Church, built ca. 1751-57 and partially burned during the American Revolution...
- 07-22St. Helena's ChurchThis Episcopal Parish was established by Act of the Assembly June 7, 1712. The first known rector, William Guy, conducte...
- 07-17The MartinangelesPhillip Martinangele, born in Italy, immigrated to this country and settled in St. Helena's Parish. He married Mary Fost...
Berkeley County
- 08-00Barnet's TavernNear this spot stood Barnet’s Tavern, called the Forty-Five Mile House, indicating its distance from Charleston. Here wa...
- 08-45Boochawee HallBoochawee Hall, created in 1683 by a 2,400-acre grant, was owned by two colonial governors, father and son. James Moore ...
- 08-55Broom Hall PlantationBroom Hall Plantation, later called Bloom Hall and still later Bloomfield, was first granted to Edward Middleton in 1678...
- 08-46Button HallThis plantation was once part of Boochawee Hall, owned by Governor James Moore (d. 1706). Moore left 615 acres to his da...
- 08-69Carnes CrossroadsCarnes Crossroads was part of a 3,000 acre royal grant to Joseph Thorowgood in 1682. Later, the Etiwan, Native Americans...
- 08-24Cherokee PathThe main Cherokee Path, which extended from the overhill towns of the Cherokee Indians in present Tennessee to Charlesto...
- 08-56Crowfield PlantationCrowfield Plantation, on the headwaters of Goose Creek, was originally granted to John Berringer in 1701. John Gibbes (1...
- 08-57Early Indian Trading PathsOne of the earliest major trading paths in the Carolina colony, dating from the first decade of English settlement 1670-...
- 08-71Eighteen Mile House TavernFrom the 18th century, the State Road from Charleston and the Road to Dorchester met near here. These paths connected Ch...
- 08-84Etiwan IslandPrior to European settlement this island was inhabited by the Etiwan Indians. Archaeological excavations in nearby area ...
- 08-86Etiwan VillageIn this area is the site of an Etiwan Indian village. The earliest record of the Etiwan tribe is a 1609 report from a Sp...
- 08-63French Huguenot PlantationAbraham Fleury, sometimes called Abraham Fleury Sieur De La Plaine, settled here about 1680. He was one of the first Fre...
- 08-50Goose CreekThis area has been called Goose Creek since the late 17th century. For almost 200 years after the Lords Proprietors gran...
- 08-59Goose Creek BridgeThe first bridge here, in use by 1680, had a raised road at either end and was built from split logs with the flat sides...
- 08-06Goose Creek ChurchThe Parish St. James was founded by Act of Assembly in 1706. The present edifice was begun in 1714, and completed in 171...
- 08-41Howe Hall PlantationHowe Hall Plantation, an inland rice plantation, was established here by Robert Howe, who came to S.C. in 1683. His firs...
- 08-42Howe Hall PlantationHowe Hall Plantation was established here by Robert Howe about 1683 and passed to his son Job Howe (d. 1706), Speaker of...
- 08-44Liberty Hall PlantationThis inland rice plantation has its origins in a 1683 grant. In 1726 Nathaniel Moore and his wife sold a 900-acre parcel...
- 08-80Martin's TavernNear here stood Martin’s Tavern, also known as the Forty-Five Mile House for its distance from Charleston. On Sept. 11, ...
- 08-19MedwayMedway, established in 1686, features a 1704-05 brick house which is one of the oldest in S.C. The Lords Proprietors gav...
- 08-04Mulberry PlantationOriginally granted to Sir Peter Colleton in 1679. Acquired in 1712 by Thomas Broughton, who erected the present mansion,...
- 08-85Nisbett HouseThis two-story wood frame building was built c.1725 for Alexander Nisbett of Dean, Scotland. It was originally the main ...
- 08-17Old JamestownAfter receiving a proprietary land grant of 370 acres in 1705, French settlers laid out the town of Jamestown, c. 2 mi. ...
- 08-02Old Moncks CornerHere was located the provincial town of Moncks Corner, deriving its name from Thomas Monck, an Englishman, who in 1735 p...
- 08-29Otranto Indigo VatBuilt 1750-1790 at Otranto Plantation and used to process dye from indigo, an important S.C. crop from 1747 to 1796. Mov...
- 08-11Pompion Hill ChapelOne quarter mile north, the first Church of England edifice outside Charleston was erected of cypress in 1703, largely t...
- 08-76Quintyne PlantationRichard Quintyne (d.1695) established a plantation near here and a creek .5 miles east in the 1680s. Likely born in Engl...
- 08-21Silk Hope PlantationHome and burial place of Sir Nathaniel Johnson, born in the County of Durham, England, in 1644; knighted in 1680, was a ...
- 08-60Spring Grove PlantationSpring Grove, an inland rice plantation on the Back River, was part of a 1706 grant by the Lords Proprietors to John Bar...
- 08-40Springfield PlantationSpringfield Plantation, an inland rice plantation, was established here by Paul Mazyck (d. 1749), a planter and merchant...
- 08-47St. James, Goose CreekSt. James, Goose Creek was one of the first Anglican parishes in the lowcountry, created by the Church Act of 1706. The ...
- 08-48St. James, Goose Creek Chapel of EaseOne of two chapels of ease for St. James, Goose Creek Parish stood here on the road to Moncks Corner, about 7 miles from...
- 08-13St. Thomas ChurchThe Parish of St. Thomas was established by Act of Assembly Nov. 30, 1706. The first church was erected in 1708 and dest...
- 08-20Strawberry ChapelChapel of Ease to St. John's (Biggin Church), built about 1725 on land bequeathed by James Child, founder at this place,...
- 08-54The OaksThe Oaks, an inland rice plantation, was established here by Edward Middleton (d. 1685) on a 1678 grant from the Lords P...
- 08-61The Yamasee War at Goose Creek, 1715In April 1715 Yamasee warriors killed government agents and traders who had come to meet with them at Pocotaligo, in pre...
- 08-49Thorgood PlantationIn 1682 the Lords Proprietors granted 3,000 acres here, on a branch of the Back River, to Joseph Thorogood (d. 1684). Th...
- 08-23Wadboo BaronyNear this point was the SW corner of Wadboo Barony, a 12,000 acre tract about 4 miles square, granted in 1683 to James C...
- 08-62WassamassawWassamassaw, with several variant spellings during the colonial era, is a Native American word thought to mean “connecti...
Calhoun County
- 09-05Calhoun CountyFirst settled in 1704, this region by 1733 included Amelia and lower Saxe Gotha townships. In 1765 much of it was made p...
- 09-01First Land Granted in Calhoun County AreaGeorge Sterling was granted 570 acres of land here on March 14, 1704. During the lifetime of his daughter, Mary Sterling...
- 09-00Savany HuntThis stream was originally called Savannah Hunt, but German-speaking settlers about 1740 corrupted the first word and Sa...
- 09-04St. Matthew's Lutheran Church Parent Lutheran Church of this AreaIn 1737-38, the elder Rev. John U. Giessendanner from Orangeburg began Lutheran work in this area; this was continued by...
Charleston County
- 10-31Boone Hall PlantationBoone Hall Plantation, established in 1681 by a grant to Major John Boone, remained in the family for 130 years. The pla...
- 10-84Charles TowneThe first permanent English settlement in what is now S.C. was established here in 1670. Named for King Charles II, the ...
- 10-07Christ ChurchThe Church Act of 1706 created Christ Church Parish. The first church, a wooden structure built in 1707, accidentally bu...
- 10-74Cook's Old Field CemeteryThis plantation cemetery predates the American Revolution. It was established by early members of the Hamlin, Hibben and...
- 10-14Drayton HallSeat of the Drayton family for seven generations, this land was acquired in 1738 by John Drayton (c. 1715-1779) as the c...
- 10-157Fenwick Indigo VatsOn this site are the rare surviving remnants of four 18th century indigo vats. Indigo is a blue dye derived from several...
- 10-119Fenwick PlantationFenwick Plantation began as a 3,000-acre tract purchased in 1721 by John Fenwick, an English planter. Fenwick had the tw...
- 10-129Hampstead VillageThis site was the center of Hampstead Village, a suburb of Charleston laid out for Henry Laurens in 1769. The village’s ...
- 10-40Hampton PlantationHampton Plantation, 2 mi. NW, was established by 1730 and was one of the earliest rice plantations on the Santee River, ...
- 10-137Huguenot ChurchFrench Protestants known as Huguenots were among the earliest Europeans to arrive in colonial S.C. They were part of a b...
- 10-75Inland Rice Fields, ca. 1701-1865Embankments and ditches dating from the early 18th century are still visible here and show the elaborate layout of rice ...
- 10-02John's Island Presbyterian ChurchFounded by early English, Scottish, and French settlers about 1710, this is one of the oldest Presbyterian congregations...
- 10-139K.K. Beth ElohimJews were present in Carolina by the 1690s. By 1820, Charleston had the largest Jewish population in the U.S. Kahal Kado...
- 10-18Laurel Hill PlantationJohn Boone owned this land by 1694, and the plantation that developed here passed in 1864 to Dr. Peter P. Bonneau, signe...
- 10-52Maybank GreenIn 1697 David Maybank II (1660-1713) acquired 200 acres along Hobcaw Creek from the Lords Proprietors. Maybank, a carpen...
- 10-29Old Wappetaw ChurchCongregationalists from New England built a church near here around 1700. Troops from both sides camped on the grounds d...
- 08-27Otranto PlantationOriginally known as "Yeshoe," this plantation was granted in 1679 to Arthur Middleton, great-granduncle of the signer of...
- 10-105Pinckney MansionThe Pinckney Mansion was a Colonial double house built c.1746 at this site, then a large waterfront lot known as Colleto...
- 10-73Plainsfield PlantationPlainsfield Plantation, on this site, and Pawletts Plantation, nearby, were established ca. 1690 by Joseph Blake (1663-1...
- 10-158Saint James Episcopal ChurchSaint James Church began in 1720 as a chapel of ease serving the James Island section of St. Andrews Anglican Parish. Re...
- 10-00St. Andrew's Parish ChurchBuilt in part in 1706, the year the Church of England was established here by law. Enlarged 1723. Burned out and rebuilt...
- 10-123St. Andrew's Parish ChurchSt. Andrew’s Parish Church was one of ten Anglican churches established in S.C. by the Church Act of 1706. The church wa...
- 10-26St. James Santee Parish ChurchErected in 1768, this edifice, officially known as Wambaw Church, was situated on the King's Highway. It is the fourth c...
- 10-134St. John's Episcopal ChurchThe parish of St. John’s, Colleton was created by the S.C. legislature in 1734. It included Johns, Edisto, Wadmalaw, Kia...
- 10-120St. Paul's Parish ChurchThis is the second site of St. Paul’s Parish Church, erected here in 1736 as a chapel of ease for the first parish churc...
- 10-36St. Paul's StonoSt. Paul’s Parish, one of the ten original parishes of colonial S.C., was created by the Church Act of 1706. The first p...
- 08-65Steepbrook PlantationThis plantation was established in 1701 by a grant of 500 acres near Goose Creek to Lewis Lansac from the Lords Propriet...
- 10-15The Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of South Carolina ANCIENT FREEMASONS The Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of South CarolinaOrganized before August 18, 1737, this Grand Lodge met in Charles Shepheard's Tavern, an early meeting place of the colo...
- 10-48The Stono RebellionThe Stono Rebellion, the largest slave insurrection in British North America, began nearby on September 9, 1739. About 2...
- 10-03Thomas SmithGovernor of Carolina, /1693-1694/Planter, Merchant, Surgeon,/arrived in Charles Town in 1684 with his first wife, Barbar...
- 08-64White House PlantationThe first plantation here was established in 1731 by Alexander Vanderdussen (d. 1759), British army officer and member o...
Cherokee County
Chester County
Chesterfield County
Clarendon County
Colleton County
- 15-08Bethel Presbyterian ChurchFounded on this site in 1728 by the Reverend Archibald Stobo, Bethel or Pon Pon Church served a large Presbyterian congr...
- 15-19Bethel Presbyterian ChurchThis church, originally located at Jacksonboro, was founded in 1728 by Rev. Archibald Stobo (d. 1741), father of the Pre...
- 15-28Edisto IslandThis roughly 68-sq.-mi. sea island has been known as Edisto since at least the 1600s when it was occupied by the Edisto ...
- 15-01Old JacksonboroughFounded about 1735 on lands granted John Jackson in 1701. County Seat of Colleton District from 1799 to 1822. Provisiona...
- 15-14Pon-Pon ChapelOn Parker's Ferry road one mile northeast of here are the ruins of Pon Pon Chapel of Ease, established in 1725 by an Act...
- 15-13Temple of SportOn top of this ridge stood a sylvan temple erected before the Revolution by Colonel Barnard Elliott, patriot and sportsm...
Darlington County
Dorchester County
- 18-11Archdale HallArchdale Hall Plantation was established in 1681 by a royal grant of 300 acres to Richard Baker. The plantation, later e...
- 18-04Middleton PlaceThese famous gardens were laid out about 1741 by Henry Middleton (1717-84), President of Continental Congress. His son, ...
- 18-06Newington PlantationNewington Plantation was established on this site in the 1680s after Daniel Axtell received a royal grant of 300 acres. ...
- 18-01Old DorchesterLaid out in 1697 as a market town for the Congregationalist colony from Dorchester, Mass., the village contained 116 qua...
- 18-05Old White Meeting House and CemeteryThis church was established in 1696 by settlers from Dorchester, Mass., for which the town of Dorchester was named. This...
- 18-02Parish Church of St. George, DorchesterSt. George's, an Anglican parish, was erected 1717. A brick church 50 ft. long and 30 ft. wide with a chancel 15 by 5 fe...
- 10-63Windsor Hill PlantationThis inland rice plantation was established in 1701 by a grant of 500 acres to Joseph Child. The original grant was betw...
Florence County
Georgetown County
- 22-54All Saints ParishAnglican services were held on Waccamaw Neck by 1737, with a chapel built on land purchased by Percival Pawley. All Sain...
- 22-17Antipedo Baptist ChurchIn the plan of Georgetown, laid out by 1730, this one acre lot was reserved for Antipedo Baptists by Elisha Screven. A b...
- 22-63Beneventum PlantationThe main house at Beneventum dates to c. 1755. It was likely commissioned by William Fyffe, a surgeon and Scottish emigr...
- 45-07Black Mingo Presbyterian ChurchOne of the earliest Dissenter congregations in South Carolina north of the Santee River was located about two miles sout...
- 22-60Brookgreen PlantationTitle to the land that comprised Brookgreen Plantation is traced to a patent for 48,000 acres granted to Robert Daniell ...
- 22-59Dissenter Meeting House and CemeteryThis is the site of a “Dissenter” meeting house, built ca. 1726 by one of the first Baptist congregations in S.C. outsid...
- 22-02GeorgetownGeorgetown, the third oldest town in the state, was laid out in 1729 by Elisha Screven on land granted to John and Edwar...
- 22-18GeorgetownShips and boats have loaded and unloaded cargo at the Sampit River near Front Street since the founding of Georgetown, c...
- 22-57Hobcaw BaronyIn 1718 the Lords Proprietors granted 12,000 acres on Hobcaw Point, the southern portion of Waccamaw Neck, to John, Lord...
- 22-48John and Mary Perry Cleland HouseThis house, one of Georgetown's earliest, was built ca. 1737 by John and Mary Perry Cleland. Mrs. Cleland inherited the ...
- 22-41Prince George Winyah Parish (1721)Early settlement in this area near the Black River, based primarily on the Indian trade and the production of naval stor...
- 22-09Prince George's Parish Church, WinyahPrince George's Parish, Winyah, was created March 10, 1721, and the parish church was erected on Black River, 1726, at t...
- 22-39Retreat Rice PlantationIn 1711 the Lords Proprietors granted Winyah Barony to Robert Daniel, who sold it to Thomas Smith. By 1787 Retreat had b...
- 22-50The Oaks PlantationThe Oaks Plantation was established on the Santee River in 1705 by a grant from the Lords Proprietors to John Sauseau, a...
- 22-28William ScrevenIn this cemetery is buried William Screven, first pastor of the earliest Baptist church in the South. A native of Englan...
- 22-16Winyah Indigo SocietySpringing from the fervor for indigo, the colony's vital new crop for making blue dye, the Winyah Indigo Society was beg...
Greenville County
Greenwood County
Horry County
- 26-03Boundary HouseDuring the colonial era the Boundary House, on the S.C.-N.C. line 1.3 mi. SE, was both a private residence and "public h...
- 26-02Rev. George WhitefieldOn Jan. 1, 1740 George Whitefield (1714-1770), Anglican evangelist, stopped at a tavern nearby on his way to Savannah. W...
- 26-13SocasteeSocastee is a Native American name referred to as “Sawkastee” in a 1711 land grant to Percival Pawley. A skirmish betwee...
- 26-34Waccamaw Tribal GroundsThis section of Horry County is part of the ancestral lands of the Waccamaw Indians. By the 1700s the tribe’s territory ...
Jasper County
- 27-18CoosawatchieCoosawhatchie, dating to the 1740s, was named for the Coosaw tribe. At first it was little more than a store and inn bui...
- 27-12Euhaw Baptist ChurchEstablished on Edisto Island about 1686 by Scotch dissenters, this is the second oldest Baptist organization in the Sout...
- 27-03Purrysburg TownshipIn 1730, the British Crown instructed S.C. Governor Robert Johnson to lay out eleven townships to populate and protect t...
Kershaw County
Lancaster County
- 29-07King Hagler's MurderOn the Catawba Path near here/King Hagler,/Chief of the Catawba Nation/(1750-1763),/was slain on August 30, 1763, by a r...
- 29-03Waxhaw Presbyterian ChurchAbout 3 miles W. is Waxhaw Presbyterian Church, organized 1755, first church in upper South Carolina. President Andrew J...
Lexington County
- 32-23Christian TheusOne mile east was the original grave of the Reverend Christian Theus. A native of Switzerland, Theus ministered to Refor...
- 32-01Congaree FortIn 1718, at a site 2.7 miles east, near the place where the Cherokee Path crossed Congaree Creek, the first frontier out...
- 32-06Old State RoadThis route follows an old Indian trail, which became a trading path and later in 1747 a public road from Charleston to G...
- 32-07The Cherokee PathBefore the Revolution, two major trading routes came together near here. Branching to the west was the road to New Winds...
- 32-11The Sycamore TreeThis tree was planted from a cutting of the old sycamore tree that stood several hundred feet west of here on the histor...
- 32-16Zion Lutheran ChurchThis congregation, the oldest continuing church in Lexington County, originated with pioneers who settled in this area i...
Marion County
Marlboro County
- 35-22Frederick Charles Hans Bruno PoellnitzBorn 1754 [1734] in Gotha, Germany, this former chamberlain to King Frederick the Great of Prussia came to America in 17...
- 35-05Welsh Neck SettlementWelsh Baptists from Pennsylvania and Delaware settled on the east bank of the Pee Dee as early as 1737. Most of the land...
McCormick County
Newberry County
Oconee County
- 37-27Cane Creek TownThis section of Oconee County was Cherokee land until 1777. Located north of here on the banks of Cane Creek was a small...
- 37-16Chattooga TownChattooga was one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. during the 17th and early 18th centuries and was a s...
- 37-22Chauga TownChauga, one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C., was near the headwaters of the Chauga River. It, like man...
- 37-21Cheowee TownCheowee Town, sometimes spelled “Chehohee,” and meaning “otter place,” was one of several Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what...
- 37-14Jocassee TownJocassee was one of several Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. It was located about 2 mi. E on the Jocassee Rive...
- 37-11Keowee TownKeowee Town, which means “mulberry grove place,” was the largest and most important of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in wha...
- 37-12Oconee TownOconee, also spelled “Aconnee,” was one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. At the base of Oconee Mountain...
- 37-03The Cherokee PathThe main trading path to the Cherokee Nation paralleled the route of Highway 11 for several miles at this point. This se...
Orangeburg County
- 38-15Church of the RedeemerThe first Anglican church in Orangeburg Township was established about 1750 by John Giessendanner, and a chapel at Orang...
- 38-09Old Charleston RoadThis was the first public road connecting Orangeburg with Charleston and was authorized by an Act of the General Assembl...
- 38-11Pioneer GraveyardFrom the time of the first settlement of Orangeburg Township in 1735 until the founding of various denominational cemete...
Pickens County
- 39-23Cherokee PathThe Cherokee Path was once part of an important trade network that connected the Upper, Middle, and Lower Cherokee towns...
- 39-24Eastatoee ValleyHuman settlement in this valley dates to the Clovis people, present as early as 13,000 years ago. By the early 1700s, th...
- 39-17Fort Prince GeorgeFort Prince George, covered by Lake Keowee since 1968, was built nearby in 1753, near the unofficial boundary between Ch...
- 39-12Hanover HouseHanover House, built 1714-16 in what is now Berkeley County and moved to the Clemson College campus in 1941, is a fine e...
- 39-26Table RockVisible 1.3 mi. NW is the south face of Table Rock, described in the 1820s as S.C.’s “monarch of the mountains.” Part of...
Richland County
- 40-50Broad RiverEarly boundary between Cherokee and Catawba Indians. Name first applied about 1745. Faust's Ford, 2 mi. above, used in R...
- 40-185Congaree River FerriesJoseph Joyner owned a private ferry on the Congaree River near this site by 1749. John McCord’s private ferry succeeded ...
- 40-42Early Richland County SettlementsFirst settlements made about 1740 on this creek, originally called Raiford's, now Mill Creek. Howell's Ferry across Cong...
- 40-41Friday's Ferry1 mi. west was East Granby Landing of Friday's Ferry (licensed 1754) across Congaree River. Floods destroyed two bridges...
Sumter County
- 43-05Early Charleston RoadThis road largely followed an old Indian path (1691). Widened by Public Act, 1753, and called "The Great Charleston Road...
- 43-34Oakland PlantationThis plantation was established in 1735 with a royal grant to William Sanders, who built a house and tavern, or “publick...
- 43-04Salem (Black River) Presbyterian ChurchThis house of worship, commonly called Brick Church, was founded by Scotch-Irish settlers in 1759 on land given by Capt....
- 43-06St. Mark's Episcopal ChurchBy Act of Assembly St. Mark's Parish was established in 1757. The first Church stood at Halfway Swamp. Others were built...
Union County
Williamsburg County
- 45-06Black Mingo-WilltownBy 1760, Charles Woodmason had established a store near here, following a 1745 Act of the General Assembly that provided...
- 45-09Early SettlersAmong the first settlers of Williamsburg County, members of the Witherspoon family sailed from Belfast to Charleston in ...
- 45-01Indiantown Presbyterian ChurchOrganized in 1757 with John James and Robert Wilson as founding elders. Burned by the British in 1780 as "a sedition sho...
- 45-04Old Muster Ground and CourthouseThis lot was designated the parade ground in the original survey of the town in 1737. It served as the muster ground for...
- 45-10Williamsburg ChurchThis Presbyterian church was established 1736 by John Witherspoon and other early Scotch-Irish settlers. Originally loca...