The County

This is the record behind the dispatches: sourced pages on Dorchester County, South Carolina, from Old Dorchester on the Ashley to the town of St. George on the Edisto. Dated paragraphs are fact and carry their sources. Start with the section that matches what you came for.

Charleston’s hauntings, from the epicenter out

• Why Charleston is the most haunted city in America, and where it comes from
• Why is Charleston so haunted?
• The 1886 Charleston earthquake, from the epicenter out
• Is the Charleston earthquake fault still active?
• Will Charleston have another earthquake?
• Haunted places near Charleston you can reach in a day
• Haunted plantations on Ashley River Road
• Charleston ghost tours: how the business started and what it leaves out
• South Carolina ghost stories, county by county
• The Upriver Haunted Route

Old Dorchester and the county’s history

• Dorchester County: a short history
• Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site
• Fort Dorchester
• The Old White Meeting House
• The bell tower of St. George’s, Old Dorchester
• What is the oldest town in South Carolina?
• The Ashley River
• The Best Friend of Charleston
• The South Carolina Canal and Railroad, and the station called George’s
• The Civil War on the Edisto, 1865
• Hurricane Hugo, 1989

Churches and campgrounds

• Indian Field Methodist Campground
• Indian Field camp meeting: dates and etiquette
• Cypress Methodist Campground, Ridgeville
• St. Paul Camp Ground, Harleyville
• Shady Grove Methodist Campground, St. George
• Grover United Methodist Church
• Appleby’s Methodist Church and Cemetery
• Zion United Methodist Church
• Francis Asbury in the Lowcountry

St. George and the Edisto country

• St. George, South Carolina: a history
• The St. George Town Clock
• The Lourie Theater
• The Klauber Building
• The Koger-Murray-Carroll House
• The St. George Rosenwald School
• James Matthews and the freedom seekers of Four Holes Swamp
• Four Holes Swamp and the Francis Beidler Forest
• Givhans Ferry State Park and the Edisto River

Summerville

• Summerville, SC ghost stories and legends
• The Summerville Light
• St. Paul’s, Summerville
• Summerville Presbyterian Church
• Flowertown Festival 2027

The first peoples

• The Cusabo peoples
• The Edisto-Natchez Kusso Tribe and the Four Holes Indian Community
• The Yamasee War of 1715
• Indian Field: what the name tells us, and what it doesn’t

Lowcountry lore

• Haint blue, boo hags and the plat-eye
• Haint blue paint colors and how to pick one

Planning a visit

• A day trip from Charleston to Dorchester County, timed
• Things to do in St. George, SC
• Where to stop between Charleston and Columbia
• I-95 exit 77 (St. George, SC)
• The World Grits Festival in St. George
• World Grits Festival 2027: dates and schedule

Looking for the fiction? Read the dispatches, or see the map and the short history of the county.