Orangeburgh District, South Carolina Genealogy

United StatesSouth CarolinaOrangeburgh District


 * Not to be confused with the smaller Orangeburg County 1800-present. From 1800 to 1868 that Orangeburg County was also known by the alias of Orangeburg District.

Alternate Spelling
In 1783 Orangeburgh officially dropped the h and ever since goes by Orangeburg. For simplicity its original spelling is used for this district's title on this page.

Historical Facts
In 1768 South Carolina replaced all of her previous counties with seven court districts including the new Orangeburgh District northwest of the previous Berkeley, Colleton, and Granville counties. See the 1770 South Carolina map.

In 1785 South Carolina created four newly-defined subordinate counties within the overarching Orangeburgh District: (See the 1785 South Carolina map.)


 * Lewisburg County 1785
 * Lexington (1785-1791) County 1785
 * Orange County 1785
 * Winton County 1785

The four subordinate counties were never surveyed or properly laid out. Their boundaries were ambiguous. Their county governments never became functional. Most records were kept at the parish level; none were kept at the county level. There were no county seats. There were no political connotations to the counties' existences. In this case the term "county" had no meaning other than to describe an approximate geographical area. They were a counties in name only.

The four subordinate counties were abolished in 1791. Only the overarching Orangeburgh District remained for the next nine years.

In 1800 South Carolina abolished all her overarching districts including Orangeburgh District. At this time South Carolina split off the southwest half as the new Barnwell County, and the remainder of the previous overarching district became the new Orangeburg County. However, in South Carolina counties were often called districts as late as 1868.

For documents of people who lived in this area from 1768 to 1800, look in:


 * St. Matthew's Parish records since 1768
 * papers filed in the District Seat at Orangeburg, South Carolina
 * papers filed in the early capital at Charleston, South Carolina

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation South Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1682-1987) may be viewed for free at the My South Carolina Genealogy website. The maps rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Websites

 * Orangeburgh District, South Carolina, courtesy: Carolana.com. Includes history.