Welcome to Georgetown County...

What is present-day Georgetown County was first settled by colonists in the 1720s. The town of Georgetown was established in 1729 with the official port following in 1732. During this early period, Georgetown was part of Craven County, which was further divided into parishes by the Parish Act of 1706. The first parish established for this area was Prince George's, Winyah Parish, established in 1721, probably indicating the earliest point in time that significant numbers of settlers began to find their way into the area from points further south.

In 1734, the western half of present-day Georgetown County became part of the newly developed Prince Frederick's Parish, which included that half of present Georgetown County as well as most of present-day Williamsburg, Marion, and Florence Counties. In 1767, All Saints Parish was established, and this parish included the coastal part of present-day Georgetown County and the coastal half of present-day Horry County.

In 1768, the District Act created the Georgetown District, which included all of present-day Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Dillon, and most of Florence Counties. This law was repealed by the British Parliament, but a second Act was soon approved in 1769. Right after the American Revolution, this large Georgetown District was divided into four smaller districts: Winyah (which was renamed Georgetown District in 1800 and whose boundaries are the same today as Georgetown County); Liberty (which was renamed Marion District in 1798), Kingston (which was renamed Horry District in 1801), and Williamsburg (which essentially remained the same, with minor changes in boundaries, to this day).

The Spanish were the first Europeans to visit present-day Georgetown County. In 1526, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon came to establish a colony in the New World. In what he described as latitude 33 degrees and 40 minutes, he entered a large river which he named the Rio Jordan, evidence of the first discovery of the Cape Fear River. De Ayllon did not settle along the Cape Fear, but went further south to Winyah Bay, almost exactly where the town of Georgetown was established much later in 1729. De Ayllon abandoned this settlement soon after landing, however, never to return to the area. He went on to settle along the Georgia coast, where he was killed in 1526 by unfriendly natives.

The War of Jenkins Ear, a war of vanity between England and the French, Portuguese, and Spanish traders left England without a source of the coveted Royal Blue Indigo dye. As the indigo plant grew wild all along the coastal plains, it was a natural transition for the cleared land to be used for cultivating indigo. Indigo is the rarest of dyes, because blue is the most difficult color to produce in a dye.