Early Settlers/Potatoe Ferry

Among the first settlers of Williamsburg County, members of the Witherspoon family sailed from Belfast to Charleston in 1734, arriving about December 1. With a year’s provisions, they embarked on an open-boat voyage. Traveling up the Black River, the settlers came ashore near here and lived in Samuel Commander’s barn while constructing their “dirt houses.”

By 1775, Potatoe Ferry was operating on the Black River about ¼ mile downstream from here. During the Revolution, Brigadier General Francis Marion employed the ferry to transport troops on a planned expedition against British forces in Georgetown. In 1810, Bishop Francis Asbury, pioneer of American Methodism, crossed the river here during his travels.