“P” is for Prince Frederick's Parish

“P” is for Prince Frederick's Parish. Established in 1734, Prince Frederick's Parish stretched like an elongated triangle from the Santee River northward “to the utmost bounds of the province,” encompassing all our part of modern Dillon, Marion, Florence, Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg Counties. Prior to 1730 European settlement north of the Santee was sparse. Still, in 1721 the assembly organized the area into Prince George Winyah Parish. In 1734 the assembly divided Prince George Winyah and its inland portion became Prince Frederick's Parish, which was granted two representatives. A major indigo producer, the parish flourished until foreign competition and the end of British bounties forced its decline in the last decades of the eighteenth century. Prince Frederick's Parish lost its status as an election district in 1790 and was divided into Liberty (Marion) and Williamsburg Counties.