History
South Carolina was part of the province of Carolina until 1710 when
North and South Carolina were made separate provinces.
In
1682, along the
coast of what today is South Carolina, three proprietary counties were
set up: Berkeley, Colleton and Craven. In 1685, Carteret County was
added along the coast, adjacent to Georgia. In the early years of South
Carolina (1682-1769), counties were only used for geographical divisions
and did not have government functions. In 1706, parishes were set up and
coexisted with the various counties. These parishes remained until after
1790. In 1769, South Carolina
abolished its four
proprietary counties and
divided into seven judicial districts, which served as governmental
units. Later, these districts were subdivided into counties, which
rarely served any official function. Many of these counties later became
districts and took on governmental duties. It was not until 1868 that
South Carolina re-designated all of the districts as counties.
Last Revised:
02 Jan 2015
