In the South Carolina lowcountry, Beaufort District
was formed in 1768 as one of seven original judicial districts.
In 1785, Beaufort District
was divided into four counties: Granville, Hilton, Lincoln, and
Shrewsbury. These counties never became functional, and in 1798
these counties were abolished. In 1868, Beaufort District was
designated Beaufort County.
Its county seat, the town of Beaufort, is on US-21, about forty
miles northwest of Savannah, GA and 110 miles south of Columbia.
Since the Civil War, the Marines have used Beaufort County's
Parris Island as a training base. Beaufort County is bordered
by the Atlantic Ocean, the South Carolina counties of Jasper
and Colleton, and the Georgia county of Chatham.
A
1785 map shows that present-day Allendale County to have once
been a portion of the northern part of Lincoln County and Shrewsbury
County, both within Beaufort District at that time. These entities
do not appear on the 1791 Circuit Court District map. Shrewsbury
County was officially abolished in 1798. |
