Friday’s Ferry Skirmish/Friday’s Ferry

A Revolutionary War skirmish took place at Friday’s Ferry on May 1, 1781. Lt. Col. Henry Hampton’s Patriot Light Dragoons killed 18 Loyalist soldiers in the Prince of Wales’ American Regiment, then garrisoned at nearby Fort Granby. They suffered no casualties and also confiscated a number of horses and enslaved people. The Patriot victory helped lay groundwork for Lt. Col. Henry Lee’s capture of the fort on May 15, 1781.

Martin Fridig, a Swiss immigrant whose name was Anglicized “Friday,” opened a ferry near here on the Congaree River c.1754. The ferry was a key access point for trade and communication and helped spur development of nearby Granby village. In 1785 the ferry was acquired by Wade Hampton who built several bridges across the river, all destroyed in floods. During his 1791 tour of the southern U.S., President George Washington used the ferry to reach the new S.C. capital, Columbia.