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"S" is for St. George's Dorchester Parish

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"S" is for St. George's Dorchester Parish. The Parish of St. George's Dorchester was established in 1717 to accommodate the growing population on the upper reaches of the Ashley River. The earliest settlement in the area, though, dated from 1695 when a group of New England Congregationalists from Dorchester, Massachusetts created a New-England-style township on the river. Beginning in 1752, most of the descendants of the Congregationalists left Dorchester and moved to Georgia. During the unrest caused by the French and Indian War, Fort Dorchester was built in the town. The British burned Dorchester during the Revolution and the town was subsequently abandoned. Summerville became a summer retreat for lowcountry rice planters and the main market town in the parish. After the Constitution of 1865 abolished the parish system, St. George's Dorchester Parish was incorporated into Colleton District.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.