In 1768, South Carolina eliminated all of the original counties and established seven new "overarching Districts," with judicial seats in each district. The Act creating these new districts was nullified by the British Parliament, but the re-introduction of the Act in 1769 was approved. From 1769 to 1785, these "overarching Districts" remained intact, however, the district seats did change some during that time-frame.

After the American Revolution in 1785, South Carolina re-established the concept of counties and thirty-four (34) "new" counties were defined and established. Each of these new counties were "subsets" of, and subordinate to, the "overarching Districts" that had been in existence since 1769. Some of the newly-defined counties were abolished between 1785 and 1800, whereas other newly-defined counties were created during that period.

In 1800, South Carolina abolished all "overarching Districts" and essentially went with the county concept from that year forward. However, in 1800, all counties were now called "districts" and would continue being called districts until after the American Civil War. In 1868, South Carolina reverted back to the term "county" and this term has been used continuously since then.

The first United States Census was taken in 1790 and each of the original seven "overarching Districts" were enumerated within that census. By the 1800 U.S. Census, all of the original seven "overarching Districts" had been abolished and new counties (called districts at that time) were enumerated separately in that census. However, in 1800, what once was the Orangeburg District now had become only two new counties - Orangeburg County (district until 1868) and Barnwell County (district until 1868) - therefore, to compare population changes from 1790 to 1800 would not be too difficult.