South Carolina District-Era Atlas
This atlas is the state-level entry to South Carolina’s district and county label problem—the depth FamilySearch wiki stubs and template sites rarely encode in one place.
The pre-1785 statewide recording trap
Many colonial deeds were recorded centrally in Charleston (Secretary of the Province/State), not only in a local courthouse. Every county land matrix on this site surfaces that note. Method: Land & property · Districts guide.
Era timeline
- 1670–1769: Proprietary/colonial Charles Town gravity; parish and proprietary grants.
- 1769: Seven judicial districts (Beaufort, Camden, Charles Town, Cheraws, Georgetown, Ninety-Six, Orangeburg).
- ~1785: County courts expand; many modern counties take clearer identity.
- ~1800: District reorganization (e.g. Barnwell, Pendleton lineages).
- 1868: Constitutional modern county framework; late counties still redirect earlier events to parents.
All 46 counties — formation, parent, deep links
| County | Formed | Parent / earlier context | Deep topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville | 1785 | Ninety-Six District | Map · Survival |
| Aiken | 1871 | Barnwell, Edgefield, Lexington, Orangeburg | Map · Survival |
| Allendale | 1919 | Barnwell and Hampton | Map · Survival |
| Anderson | 1826 | Pendleton District | Map · Survival |
| Bamberg | 1897 | Barnwell | Map · Survival |
| Barnwell | 1800 | Orangeburg District (Barnwell District from 1798/1800 era reorganization) | Map · Survival |
| Beaufort | 1769 | Original judicial district | Map · Survival |
| Berkeley | 1882 | Charleston | Map · Survival |
| Calhoun | 1908 | Lexington and Orangeburg | Map · Survival |
| Charleston | 1769 | Original judicial district (settled 1670 as Charles Town) | Map · Survival |
| Cherokee | 1897 | Union, Spartanburg, and York | Map · Survival |
| Chester | 1785 | Camden District | Map · Survival |
| Chesterfield | 1785 | Cheraws District | Map · Survival |
| Clarendon | 1855 | Sumter | Map · Survival |
| Colleton | 1800 | Charleston District | Map · Survival |
| Darlington | 1785 | Cheraws District | Map · Survival |
| Dillon | 1910 | Marion | Map · Survival |
| Dorchester | 1897 | Berkeley and Colleton | Map · Survival |
| Edgefield | 1785 | Ninety-Six District | Map · Survival |
| Fairfield | 1785 | Camden District | Map · Survival |
| Florence | 1888 | Marion, Darlington, Clarendon, Williamsburg | Map · Survival |
| Georgetown | 1769 | Original judicial district | Map · Survival |
| Greenville | 1786 | Ninety-Six / later Washington District context | Map · Survival |
| Greenwood | 1897 | Abbeville and Edgefield | Map · Survival |
| Hampton | 1878 | Beaufort | Map · Survival |
| Horry | 1801 | Georgetown District | Map · Survival |
| Jasper | 1912 | Beaufort and Hampton | Map · Survival |
| Kershaw | 1791 | Camden District | Map · Survival |
| Lancaster | 1785 | Camden District | Map · Survival |
| Laurens | 1785 | Ninety-Six District | Map · Survival |
| Lee | 1902 | Darlington, Kershaw, and Sumter | Map · Survival |
| Lexington | 1804 | Orangeburg District | Map · Survival |
| Marion | 1800 | Georgetown District (Liberty/Marion lineage) | Map · Survival |
| Marlboro | 1785 | Cheraws District | Map · Survival |
| McCormick | 1916 | Abbeville, Edgefield, and Greenwood | Map · Survival |
| Newberry | 1785 | Ninety-Six District | Map · Survival |
| Oconee | 1868 | Pickens | Map · Survival |
| Orangeburg | 1769 | Original judicial district | Map · Survival |
| Pickens | 1826 | Pendleton District | Map · Survival |
| Richland | 1785 | Camden District | Map · Survival |
| Saluda | 1895 | Edgefield | Map · Survival |
| Spartanburg | 1785 | Ninety-Six District; Pinckney District 1791–1799 | Map · Survival |
| Sumter | 1798 | Camden District / Claremont lineage | Map · Survival |
| Union | 1785 | Ninety-Six District; Pinckney District period | Map · Survival |
| Williamsburg | 1804 | Georgetown District | Map · Survival |
| York | 1785 | Camden District; Pinckney District 1791–1800 | Map · Survival |
Interactive boundary visualization is planned; until then this table + per-county district-era essays are the working atlas.