Colleton County

Colleton County was created in 1682 and was known by the parish names of St. Bartholomew, St. Paul and St. George Dorchester. It was named for one of the Lords Proprietors, Sir John Colleton (1608-1666). In 1769 these parishes became part of Charleston District, where they remained until Colleton District was formed in 1800. In 1897 a portion of the county was given to form Dorchester County. The county seat is Walterboro.

Several Revolutionary War skirmishes occurred in Colleton County and the state legislature met in the town of Jacksonboro in 1782 while Charleston was occupied by the British. In 1828 the first nullification meeting in the state was held in Walterboro. The Revolutionary War hero Isaac Hayne (1745-1781) was a Colleton resident, as were politicians Rawlins Lowndes (1721-1800) and William Lowndes (1782-1822 Cotton was king in the region. After the War Between the States, Northern carpetbaggers bought the land for taxes and used it as hunting preserves.