()8G TOWNS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



Vessels drawing twelve feet are sometimes detained at Georgetown, 

 because the bar of Sampit river affords only nine feet at low water. 

 Capt. Phillips, United States Engineers, reports that this obstacle may be 

 removed at a cost of a trifle over $14,000. 



In the year 1700, a vessel that was detained by low tide at Charleston 

 bar, had previously made its way, without a pilot, to the present site of 

 Georgetown. At that very time, however, a great storm occurred which 

 opened the inlet through North Isla'nd, known as North Inlet. The 

 pressure of the vast flood of waters descending the rivers in Winyaw bay 

 Avas thus no longer confined to a single channel, and as a consequence 

 the entrance has filled up to a considerable degree. Capt. Marcou, United 

 States Corps of Engineers, estimates that it would require the outlay of 

 one and a half millions of dollars to establish a depth of nineteen to 

 twenty-two feet at low water on the Georgetown bar. 



The railroad connecting Georgetown with the Northeastern railroad is 

 nearly completed. AVhen this is done, Georgetown will have the shortest 

 railroad connection with Columbia of any seaport in the State. 



Georgetown was founded early in the eighteenth century by the Rev. 

 Mr. Screven, the first Baptist minister in South Carolina. It covers an 

 area a mile square. In 1820, the population was 2,000 ; in 18-10, it was 

 1,500 ; in 1850, it was 1,628 ; in 1860, it was 1,720 ; in 1870, it was 2,080 ; 

 in 1880 it was 2,557. 



It is regularl}^ laid out, and has fourteen miles of streets, paved with 

 stone, brick or wood. Transportation through the streets is performed 

 by drays or carts, at fifteen cents a load. Buggies and carriages may be 

 hired at $2.50 to $1.00 a day. Wells and cisterns afford an abundant 

 supply of water. Four main drains, with a number of lateral drains, 

 empty into Sampit river, and constitute an excellent sj^stem of drainage. 

 There are three boarding-houses ; charges, from $1.00 to $2.00 a dav for 

 transient boarders. The court house, jail, and market house are of brick, 

 and were erected at a cost of $50,000. The hall of the Winyaw Indigo 

 Society is also of brick ; it is two stories, and cost $18,000. The lower 

 story is used as a school, the upper story has a library, and is used as a 

 public hall ; fees for exhibitions, $5.00. There are five churches, three 

 for whites. Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist, and two for the colored 

 })opulation, Methodist and Baptist. They have an aggregate seating 

 capacity of over three thousand, and cost about $30,000. The pupils of 

 the Winyaw Indigo Society school are prepared to enter West Point and 

 the colleges and universities of the United States. There are two public 

 schools, one white and one colored, and, in addition, a number of private 

 schools. The Winyaw Indigo Society, one of the oldest charitable insti- 

 tutions in the South, was incorporated in 1756 ; its funds have been chiefly 



