(Information re-print from and added to: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)  *** Many of these locations are on rural routes with County and State highway number which can be located on the S.C. SC DOT Maps found on R&R in each county.

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Red Hill a African American community consisting of about twelve houses, Stewart Chapel, and Cainhoy School, is located just below French Quarter Creek on Highway 518. It apparently is so named from an outcropping of red clay in the vicinity.

Spring Hill Community is located on both sides of Highway 27 for a distance of about a mile. It begins about two miles from the junction of Highway 27 with U. S. 176. Like many communities the history of the church is the history of the community. According to tradition the Methodists here were worshiping under a bush arbor by 1800, which indicates the preexistence of a community. By 1814 a pole building had been erected. During the middle of the eighteen hundreds the church was rebuilt. Two years ago this second building was razed and a third one (the present one) erected.1

Barnett’s Tavern was located about half a mile east of the present junction of Highways 311 and 6, within the bounds of the Cross com- unity (see below), and possibly formed the nucleus of the community. It perhaps was originally called “Martins Tavern.” It first appears on the maps in 1775, at which time it was owned by Peter R. Whitten or Witten. Gen. Greene camped here after the Battle of Eutaw Springs on Sept. 7, 1781. In 1822 the tavern passed into the hands of Robert Foxworth. By die 1840s the tavern was being run by Elisha Barnet, from whom it takes its name. It is also 45 miles from Charleston.

Trial Community had a Post Office in 1916 when it probably was a center of sorts for timber operations in the nearby Santee River Swamp. It ceased to exist in 1938 when the waters of Lake Marion flooded the area. According to a plat in the Mesne Conveyance Office in Moncks Comer, there was a plantation by the name of Trial in this area which undoubtedly gave the community its name. The plantation probably was so named because it was bought as a trial; or possibly, being swampy and subject to freshets, it was a trial to its owner. It was located about two miles west of the upper end of the Diversion Canal (which diverts the water from the Santee River basin into Lake Moultrie).

Chapel Hill Plantation – It was on this plantation that a Chapel of Ease to St. Johns Berkeley Episcopal Church was built of logs. By Act of the Assembly in 1770, during the Rectorate of Rev. Levi Durand, a Chapel of Ease was directed to be built near the 45 Mile House. (The log chapel presumably had disappeared by then). Later, the Chapel was moved to the Rocks Plantation near Eutaw Springs. Finally it was moved to and became the church at Eutawville. The plantation was named for the chapel, the site of which was covered by die waters of Lake Moultrie in 1938. It was located about three miles east of the junction of Highways 6 and 311. Also: Southwest of Harbin was situated Chapel Hill Plantation, which was so named because a chapel of ease was once located on the property. The plantation, which totaled 780 acres, was described as having a “comfortable Dwelling House, seven rooms, kitchen and wash-house, Cotton-house, granary, stable and Carriage house, and with Negro houses for 50or 60 Negroes.” During the last decade of the eighteenth century the plantation was owned by Robert Marion, who sold it in 1805 to James Brickell.

Coopers Store is beginning more and more to be called Coopers Crossroads. This is the local name given to the intersection of U. S. Highway 176 and State Highway 16, about eight miles southwest of Pinopolis. The crossroads were here before Mr. Cooper came to Berkeley County. R. M. Cooper arrived at the crossroads which now bear his name about 1880. He ran a store which stood where that of Mr. Norman West’s does now, and he also operated a turpentine still for the Murray family. He seems to have been involved in a few land transactions while he was here. In 1885 he moved away, to where, no one knows. Years later his son, a telegrapher, came back from Florida for a visit. Cooper’s house originally stood behind his store, but, after the store was sold, it was moved. It now stands behind the Esso filling station, but faces on State Highway 16. It is a one-story house with three or four rooms, five or six feet off the ground with the steep roof so typical of the 1880’s. The only addition to the house is a screened-in porch on the side. It looks rather pretty painted white with a red lead roof.

Floricane or Flouricane (depending upon whether the author’s or the County Welfare Department’s spelling is preferred) consists of two little African American communities about two miles apart. It or they are located on Highway 45 between Pontoux Branch (named for the Villepontoux family who once owned land here) and Mattassee Branch, about two miles east of the town of St. Stephen. These two little communities by the same name may also be the “Flower Town,” which some one said was in this area. The origin of the name is unknown.

Mattassee community is on the dirt road (County maintained) just off of secondary Highway 310, about a mile to the west of 310’s junction with Highway 45. (Lack of the numbering system formerly used for County maintained roads on Highway maps makes a precise location difficult.) It takes its name from nearby Mattassee, or Matiassee, Branch. The name is of Indian origin, but unknown meaning.

Macedonia is not a town, although it probably has the population to be one, for it has no main street nor business district. Perhaps this is due to its being located at the intersection of so many highways: 17-A, 40, 127, 179, 374, 48 and 97. Actually Macedonia is three communities: Providence, which is in the western part and takes its name from Providence Church there; Hood Town, named for the Hood family, is located more in the center as befits the largest community here; and Brinson Town, which is named for the Brinson family, is located closer to the junction of Highways 179 and 17-A. Not too long ago the entire area was called Hood Town, so they say. During some election the Hood family voted the wrong way. So when the New Consolidated School was built, it was named Macedonia and the name stuck. Mail Route Road commemorates the Rural Free Delivery of the Roosevelt New Deal. It is now called Highway 179 and passes through the edge of Macedonia.

Hickory Grove is a dying community just on the other side of Whiskinboo Swamp from the junction of Highways 48 and 179. It probably perpetuates the name of a plantation near here.

Litchfield Town is named for the Litchfield family who live here. It is located on Highway 48 between Whiskinboo and Mill Creeks, about four miles from Macedonia. The people in Macedonia refer to Litchfield Town as “Rotten Egg Savannah,” a term of disparagement and the name is beginning to stick.

Rotten Egg Savannah is actually a savannah in the vicinity of Litchfield Town. When a person walks into the savannah, or rather the edge of it, gases are said to be released which have a distinct odor of rotten eggs.

Kelley Cross Crossroads is an interesting place name, for what people do to it. The name keeps being contracted into Kelley Crossroads, in spite of its having been so called for Mr. Kelley Cross who lives nearby. It is the crossroads of Highway 6, old Highway 6 (which used to go on to Pinopolis before the existence of Lake Moultrie) and Highway 132. The Crossroads are located within the boundaries of Cross.

Harris Town community is located on Highway 40, between Highways 310 and 351. It is named for the Harris family who live there.  Harris Town Road is the local name for Highway 310, which only borders the Harris Town Community. Wing Road is also called the Old Wing Road, which helps to differentiate it from another Wing Road near Pineville. This old wing road is the name given to Highway 126 throughout its entire length from Highway 127 in the west to Highway 45 in the east. It is said that the road was built with slave labor and that it was straight as an arrow through most of its length.

St. Stephen’s Black Top is the local name given to Highway 171. It is perhaps the most recent place name to develop in this county as the highway has only been paved in the past five years or so. The place name means that a road has been paved with asphalt and that it leads to the town of St. Stephen.1 Three Mile Head Road is the local name given to Highway 171, between Highways 402 and 376. On June 23, 1777, a plantation of 400 acres by the name of Three Mile Head (from which the road doubtlessly took its name) was advertised for sale. The advertisement stated that this land was originally granted in 1714, but did not make it clear as to the name being in use at that date. Presumably the name arises from the property being three miles from the head of the Eastern Branch of the Cooper River.

Cordesville Road does not go either to or from Cordesville now. Perhaps it did at one time. Now it just connects Highways 171 and 402 near Cordesville Station. The origin of the name is the Cordes family. Gough, contrary to what the County Highway map says, does not exist. The highway map locates Gough where Cordesville (sometimes called Old Cordesville, see below) has always been and still is. Gough did exist during the first twenty years of the twentieth century near Highway 402, -but east of the Seaboard Railroad tracks. In 1916 it had a post office which was located beside the avenue of Bosis Plantation House, about four miles from the present Cordesville Station. It is probable that the post office was established when a lumber camp was operating in the area. When the lumber camp moved, the post office closed and the people moved away. As to the origin of the name, a John Gough, along with Michael Mahon and Dominick Arthur bought this property, then called Cypress Barony. Since then, and until the Civil War era, the Gough family was well known in this area and so it is likely that Gough was named for this family.

Cordesville Station, mentioned above, is officially known as Cordesville and is still a station on the Seaboard Railroad. It is located where Highway 402 crosses the railroad tracks. It consists of the station, about three stores and five houses. The station was probably built to serve some lumber camp, and when the lumber camp left, enough business remained to keep it open. It takes its name from the nearest community, Cordesville (the older settlement) which is located about five miles west of here Cordesville, called by some Cordesville village to differentiate it from the station, has had quite a come back since the Korean War with new houses and stores going up. It has now perhaps some fifty houses. With communities it is difficult to really tell where they begin and end. So it is with this place. The center is where the older part lies, that is about two miles east of Wadboo Creek and on the south side of Highway 402. It is said that only four houses remain of the pre-Civil War plantation days when this was a  pineland summer village for the planters on the Cooper River. Cordesville was already in existence in 1819, and before the Civil War had an Episcopal Chapel and probably a Methodist church also. By the end of the century, in addition to the two churches, it had acquired a school. By 1920 only about five of the old houses remained and probably the Methodist church. It seems to have taken its name from the Cordes family who probably owned the land where the village stood.

Lady Anne’s Branch was an Old Cordesville’s name for a rather small branch on the east side of the village. Origin unknown. Bonneau Ferry is now a rather unwanted plantation, with the original house long since gone and the timber all cut. This, though, was the home of the Bonneau family which gave their name not only to this plantation, but also to a small town on Highway 52. Here, in 1712, at Anthony Boneau’s Landing on the Cooper River a ferry was established by act of the legislature. This ferry was to enable people from the Hell Hole Swamp side to reach Charles Town by the most direct route. After 1712 the ferry probably became a private ferry and remained so until 1798. By then the property, and with it the ferry, had passed into the hands of the Calhoun family. In 1798 the State Legislature invested the ferry as a public ferry in the hands of Floride Calhoun, who ran it until 1838. (She was the mother-in-law of John C. Calhoun.) In 1838 Dr. Thomas G. Prioleau, having acquired the property and the ferry, was invested with the latter for seven years. Presumably he ran it until shortly after the Civil War, when economic conditions put an end to such things. The main gate to Bonneau Ferry Plantation is about half a mile from Cordesville Station to the east on Highway 402. St. Stephen is a nice, sizeable town which has only one thing wrong with it. Few people in the county pronounce the name as spelled for they insist on putting an “s” at the end of the name. This fact harks back to the origin of the name. This community originally was a small village as it was the location of a chapel of ease to the English Church at Jamestown. In 1754 the legislature created St. Stephen’s Parish. But as the old chapel of ease was a wooden structure, old and not fit to use, the vestry was authorized to sell it. A new church, probably in a different location but same area, was built in 1767. After the Revolution, the town had a hard time staying alive as most people seem to have preferred Pineville. In 1819 St. Stephen was said to have only 440 white people. Now, of course, it is very much alive.

Gravel Hill community does not exist any more. It was located about three miles northeast of the town of Bonneau, on (or near) Highway 126 and its intersection with Highway 127. Possibly it was summer village for the plantations in that area. It presumably took its name from nearby Gravel Hill Plantation, or else was located on that plantation.

Corsada is another community near the shores of Lake Marion and probably is named for an old plantation which may have existed there. The name seems to be a corruption of the Indian confederation of tribes called Cusabo. It is located on Highway 536, about two miles north of the junction of Highways 536 and 6.1

Spring Grove is another one of those little dead communities. It seems also to have been a pineland summer village. The name is too much like a plantation name not to have been one. It was located two miles due east of the town of Bonneau, on the west side of Wadboo Swamp.

Saw Mill has now about seven or eight occupied houses. In years gone by, it had a larger population. Very likely it took its name from a saw mill which operated here in former times and established the community in the first place. Saw Mill community is located just to the north of Highway 376, about two  miles east of Highway 44.

Strawberry, Strawberry Chapel, Childbury, Childsbury. It is rather hard to separate these four names for they all apply to the same locality. In 1698 James Child received a grant for 600 acres, which he called Strawberry Plantation. On 100 acres of this plantation he laid out a town around 1710. This town was located on a bluff at the “T” of the Cooper River. It was an ideal location for a town. Nearby was Kitts Spring. In 1705 the legislature had established a ferry here which operated across the Cooper River at that point, but it was below the bluff of the town. After 1705 the ferry probably operated as a private ferry. In 1741 this ferry again became a public ferry for a period of seven years. It was invested in Lydia Ball, the daughter of James Child. If the ferry were retarded or if there was an unreasonable delay, there was an eight shilling fine for the first hour and four shillings fine for every hour afterwards. Persons going to and from divine services or to and from militia musters paid no fares. In times of alarm the ferry was free. In 1741 the ferry rates were: for foot passengers three pence, proclamation money; for every horse three pence, same money; for cattle, per head, ferried or swam, two pence, same money; chaise or chair, one shilling, same money. There are people today who remember having crossed on this ferry around the turn of the century. The old sign which gave rates in shillings and pence was still legible not too many years ago. It had been nailed to a cypress tree where the public could see it, according to the law, although in recent years the tree had grown around the middle of it. Last year some vandal shot the ends of the board off, presumably to show his skill with a shotgun. A fort was also built here when the town was laid out, for protection of the inhabitants. Later the militia musters for the area were held here. The Town of Childbury was laid out with five streets running north and south: Ferry, Craven, Blackwell, and two others whose names are lost; east and west: Bay, Mulberry, Church, Market, Forster’s and Square. Two squares were laid out: Childs and Dixess. By a Legislative Act of October 1723 two annual fairs and two weekly markets were established. James Child in his will of 1718 left an acre and a half for a chapel and a burying ground. The Legislature obliged by establishing the Chapel of Ease for St. John’s Parish Church there in 1725. The church here has one service annually and the burying ground is still used. One of the squares was to be used for a college (Childs). James Child also left 600 pounds currency, to establish a free school as well as a lot for the school and a house for the school master. This school was in operation for a while, and out of it comes the tender story of Little Mistress Chicken (her mother Lydia, the daughter of James Child, married first George Chicken, secondly Elias Ball). Little Mistress Chicken was punished by the school master by being tied to a tombstone in the Ball family grave enclosure. The school master forgot her. A slave who had overstayed his visit to a neighboring plantation that night discovered her and promptly told his master. The school master was drummed out of town. Little Mistress Chicken afterwards lived to become Mrs. Benjamin Simons of Middleburg Plantation, but one side of her mouth was always slightly drawn up because of her experience. A race track was established here (date unknown); but in 1825 the Strawberry Jockey Club dissolved, sold its race track which was subsequently ploughed up and planted in cotton. The Strawberry Agricultural Society was probably formed in the early 1800’s and lasted until the Civil War. It met in a house in Childbury (or Childsbury if you prefer the possessive) near the church. The church, known today as Strawberry Chapel, is located at the south end of Highway 44, 20 miles east of Moncks Comer.

Wilder is located on Highway 41 between Highways 52 and 351, about three miles north of the town of Bonneau. It is said that the community was founded by refugees from the area now covered by the waters of Lake Moultrie. Some persons from the lake area did move here, but it is also said that this Negro community was here before then. Wilder is obviously named for a family by that name. Forty-one is said to be the distance from Charleston, which implies a stagecoach stop or tavern. Which name is older or which name will win out is a matter of conjecture.° Bonneau (pronounced by the inhabitants with the first syllable accented) grew up on lands owned by, or formerly owned by, a family of that name who also owned Bonneau Ferry. At least Henry Mouzon’s map of 1790 shows they owned land in that area. The community probably was started as a station on the Atlantic Coastline Railroad in the latter half of the 1800’s. It is located about ten miles north of Moncks Comer on Highway 52.

Candy Branch is a small branch which Highway 52 crosses quite unnoticed near Highway 367. It is probably a corruption of a surname, but what name is not known.

McBeth is a nice little community of about fifty houses with a post office. Mr. Charles MacBeth acquired land in this area as early as 1840. (Mr. MacBeth was Mayor of Charleston 1860-1868.) He owned a saw mill at the site of McBeth which was known as MacBeth’s Mill. The old Northeastern Railway (now the Atlantic Coastline Railroad) established a station here as McBeth to handle Charles MacBeth’s cotton and timber shipments. The Methodists in 1852 established the Rehobeth Church here which still serves the community. This community is located on the west side of Highway 52, about five miles north of the Tail Race Canal. Manigault Lane is a thriving little one-road Negro community about a mile north of Santee Circle and to the west of Highway 52. It takes its name from the Manigault family who live there.

Santee Circle is a rather recent community having really only come into existence with the building of the Santee-Cooper Power plant in the late 1930’s. The State Highway Department, for reasons best known to themselves, call it “Area north of Moncks Corner,” which it is by about five miles on Highway 52. The origin of the name probably stems from a circle the road to the power plant made when the SANTEE-Cooper power project was being inaugurated.

Lawrenceville is a African American community which is wedged into the junction of Highways 360 and 174 about a mile and a half northeast of the Tail Race Canal. The name evidently is from a family named Laurence or Lawrence (author’s spelling) who perhaps lived there.

Cherry Hill community a few years ago built itself a community center. It is located on Highway 360 just south of its junction with Highway 17-A, about a mile northeast of Biggin Church ruins. It seems to have taken its name from the old Cherry Hill Plantation which was in the same area.

Wadboo community extends east from Wadboo Bridge along Highway 402 until its junction with Highway 171. It is a fairly large Negro community and takes its name from nearby Wadboo Creek. The name is of Indian origin and unknown meaning.

Buck Hall is a small African American community located between Wadboo Creek and Highway 44 at the Wadboo Bridge and extending southward. It evidently takes its name from the old Buck Hall Plantation which was in the same general locality.

Tickville on the first county maintained road to the east off of Highway 44, south of Wadboo Bridge, is a fairly large Negro community. Anyone who has been in the woods in this area, especially in the summer, will know that the community is well-named.

Umbria Road, the road the above Tickville is on, continues on to Old Cordesville. It seems to have taken its name from the old Umbria Plantation which used to be in this area.

Hard Pinch Road is the second county maintained road to the east off Highway 44, south of Wadboo Bridge. It seems to be named either for a plantation (the soil here is rather poor) or from the wash-board or corduroy character of the road. Taveau Church is a small wooden Negro church located about a mile north of Strawberry Chapel on Highway 44. The State Highway Department map of 1961 calls it “Tabo Church” for some reason unknown to man. The Church is noteworthy for several reasons. It was built by the Taveau family (white plantation owners) for the use of the Negroes in the early 1800’s, probably around 1825, and is undoubtedly the oldest Negro church in Berkeley County. The other reason is that until recently it had, and possibly still has, white men on the Vestry of the church. The church is still in use.

Russellville, primarily a lumber town built around the Russellville Lumber Company mill, is located around the junction of Highways 18 and 35. It is probably named for the owner of the company and was founded in the first two decades of this century.

Pooshee is, or was, a plantation for about half of it is now under the waters of Lake Moultrie. It is located at the opposite end of Highway 42 from the town of Bonneau. The name is of Indian origin and unknown meaning. It was first applied to a swamp, all or some of which was granted to John Steward in 1697. Eventually the property, or the part which kept the name, passed into the hands of the Porcher family. The part not covered by water seems destined to be divided up into housing lots.1 Red Bull, Pedee, and Waccamaw are or were, depending upon the amount of erosion by Lake Moultrie, three small tracts of land on Pooshee Plantation. They are located on the south side of Jacks Hole and probably border the present lake shoreline. The only historical reference which might give the origin of the three tracts is this brief passage from Mills* Statistics: “In the memory of some people still living [this was published in 1826] there were Pedee and Waccamaw Indians living in the Parish of St. Johns Berkeley under their chief King Johnny.” A group of Natchez Indians were with them at that time which may explain the Red Bull. It is said that Indians were living on this Plantation as late as the middle of the past century.

Jacks Hole and Tide Hole are or were two springs on Pooshee Plantation. They were located a little further west of the present lake shoreline and drained into Biggin Creek which flowed into the Cooper River. Jacks Hole is probably named for some slave who lived near here. Tide Hole is said to have risen and fallen perceptibly with the tide for this spring is close enough to have been so affected. These two springs, as well as those at Woodboo, Moore’s Fountain, The Rocks Plantations, Eutaw Springs and the Crawl Branch Springs are said to have been inhabited by the Cymbees or Cymbies (both spellings are used). These Cymbees, according to Dr. Robert Wilson, are akin to the Undine and the Kelpie. As Dr. P. W. Bradley, head of the South Carolina Folklore Society, explained: “The Undines or Naiads are water sprites who keep springs and fountains flowing. Kelpie is a spirit in the form of a horse who warns that people are about to be drowned, or perhaps causes a person to drown.”

Butter Milk Road or Milk Road, is now the main road on Pooshee Plantation and runs from Highway 42, just before it ends at Bonneau Beach, to Jacks Hole. Its origin is unknown.

Raccoon Hall was located about five miles west southwest of Russellville and close to Jacks Hole on Pooshee Plantation. It was a pineland summer village for the planters in the area. After a while some of these houses were moved to a healthier location which was the beginning of Pinopolis. The houses which remained were turned over to African Americans (see below). The origin of name is due to its woody location.

Coon Hill a settlement which took over the remains of the above pineland village, had a derogatory name. It was called ’Coon Hill, because in this area a Negro is sometimes referred to as a ’coon. The name probably continued referring to it as Raccoon Hill. The waters of Lake Moultrie now cover this area.

Simpson Crossing is an African American community located on highway 368 near where it crosses the Atlantic Coastline Railroad tracks about three miles from Santee Circle. How old the community is, is not known, but it evidently takes its name from a man named Simpson who owned land here at the beginning of the 1800’s. At that time it was called Simpson’s basin. Even earlier there perhaps was another community, for in 1707 there was a French Huguenot church here and people do not build churches except where there are parishioners. At the time of the building of the old Santee Canal, about 1801, one of the Izard family laid out a town here which probably never amounted to anything. Its name does not seem to have survived.

Pimlico, one of the greater Charleston, or greater Goose Creek suburbs, came into being during the past five years or so on the lands of Pimlico Plantation, from which it takes its name. It is about five miles from Highway 52, off the Cypress Gardens road. The name Pimlico is of Indian origin and unknown meaning.

Tarry Town pronounced Tar* Town, is an African American community located in the forks of Highways 9 and 260 about a mile and a half east of Highway 52. It has about twenty-one houses, but no church, no stores nearby (the closest store, until Pimlico came into being, was about ten or twelve miles away). The land Tarry Town is on was part of the old Kecklico Plantation, which the people here pronounce Cake-li-co, accenting the first syllable. As to its age, there is a variant of the folksong Barbara Allen, which begins: “In Tarry Town where I was born . . .” However, it is doubtful that the community dates back much further than the late 1860’s. There is a Tarry Town in up-state New York, the origin of which is said to be an English corruption of the Dutch Tawve, meaning wheat. It is doubtful that the above would apply here, as the plantations never seem to have gone into wheat growing. It is probable that the name is a corruption of some owner. The origin of the name is unknown.

The Highway Department map shows Pine Grove as a station on the Seaboard Railroad, but the author has been unable to find a road leading to it and thus cannot verify its present existence. The railroad seems to have brought the community into existence prior to the turn of the century. It is said to have had at least a saw mill, and perhaps a store or two. It took its name from nearby Pine Grove Plantation, and was located about two miles east of Highway 52 and about a mile north of the Medway Plantation road.

Old Field community is located north of and bordering Highway 6, where Highway 52 makes a sharp turn north to cross the Santee River. Its age, like that of most of the African American communities, is unknown. The name evidently comes from a plantation which may have been in the same area. The name “Old Field” is either from a deserted Indian “old field,” meaning that the  Indians had left behind them cleared land, or from the family of Oldfield.

Old Peru, takes its name from the old Porcher Plantation here by the name of Peru. The plantation possibly was so named for its rich soil as compared to the metallic riches of Peru in South America. As to the “Old” part, it is also open to conjecture. The Negro community of Old Peru is located on Highway 35, between its intersection by Highway 45 and Russellville.

Moncks Comer, the county seat of Berkeley County, started as a crossroads community where the road from Charleston to St. Stephen and Murray’s Ferry on the Santee crossed the road from Stony  Landing on the Cooper River to the Congarees (now greater Columbia). This community is named for Thomas Monck, about whom very little is known. He was a merchant in Charles Town and married twice: first to Joanna, daughter of the then Lt. Gov. Thomas Broughton; second to Mary, the daughter of former Gov. Sir Nathaniel Johnson. In 1747 he died, leaving as his only heirs Joanna (daughter by his first wife) and Mary, his second wife. Four hundred acres of Mitton Plantation went to the second wife, who sold it to William Keith. The remaining 600 acres went to his daughter Joanna, who married John Dawson in 1760. John Dawson moved up from Charles Town and lived on the plantation. Shortly thereafter he opened a general store on the comer of his late father-in-law, Thomas Monck’s land. It is said that there was a trading post here as far back as 1738. In 1760 a magazine was established here to facilitate the moving of troops from Charleston to the Cherokee Country. Simeon Theus is said to have opened the first store here in 1738. Other stores were: Neufville and Anderson (1756), Thomas White and John Dawson (1759), Dawson and Dudley (1763), Dawson and Walter (1765), and Thomas and John Giles (1777). In 1780 Col. Tarleton defeated the American cavalry under General Isaac Huger at Moncks Corner. Various other battles were fought in this vicinity.

There were three known taverns in Moncks Corner, the most famous of which was Martin’s Tavern established prior to the Revolution. Another tavern was Doyle’s Tavern, which was located on the east side of present Highway 52, at its junction with Highway 17-A. There was a race track here as early as 1749. There may have been a small Methodist or Baptist church here in the early part of the 1800’s. If so, it was located on the east side of Highway 52, between the Berkeley County REA building and a small section of woods, for there is a broken tombstone lying there to the memory of Ellinor McDonnald, the only daughter of William McDonnald who died June 1819. There used to be a monument to one of the Gadsden family in the same place. In 1816 Moncks Corner had a post office. With the building of the Santee Canal and the age of the railroads arriving, Moncks Comer declined to almost nothing. When the Northwestern railroad was built a mile away, the town (or what was left of it) moved near the station.

Kitfield or to use the official name of Keith- field, is a Negro community of some size, located around the north end of Highway 268 about two miles north of Moncks Comer. It takes its name from Keithfield Plantation. The plantation name derives from William Keith, who owned it as early as 1752. A battle was fought here during the Revolution, when Col. James Postell and his partisans captured supplies from the British. Numbers and losses unknown.

Mittenlane is a fairly small African American community on the outskirts of Moncks Comer. It is located on the north side of Highway 17-A, across the Atlantic Coastline Railroad tracks from what is now the woolen mill (formerly the old Army Depot). It occupies both sides of the avenue of old Minton or Mitton plantation. This is the plantation of Thomas Monck from whom Moncks Corner takes its name. The house site at the head of the avenue is Moncks Corner’s garbage dump. In 1680, according to the late Mr. John A. Zeigler, Gov. Joseph West received a grant for 1500 acres in St. John’s Parish, Berkeley, which he called Minton or Mitton. It was subsequently sold to James LeBas, who sold it to Thomas Monck. It seems to have been so named because it was in the Mittle or Middle of the Colleton family holdings. Mitten Park is the extension of Mittenlane across Highway 17-A into the town limits of Moncks Corner toward and bordering the now departed Flack Jones Lumber Company (moved to Summerville last year). The use of the term “park” is not known.

Frazier Hill a African American community of about 17 houses, is located just to the north of the fork of Highways 5 and 6 at the western city limits of Moncks Corner. It is named for the  family of Frazier, who predominate in the community. It is said that the Fraziers moved here when the waters of Lake Moultrie flooded White Hall Plantation, their former home. Incidentally, there is nothing which resembles a hill in the area.

The Weaver sounds in the vernacular like “Reever.” This little African American community is on the south side of the fork of Highways 5 and 6 at the fork. It takes its name from a family who live there.

Perry Hill is quite large and is located adjacent to, but south of, Moncks Corner. It is on the first dirt road to the right off Highway 17-A, about a mile to the west of the intersection of Highways 17-A and 6. This community is named for the African American Perry family who live there.

Hayne Hill is a rather high class African American community. Within the past ten years the Hayne Hill Development was started here on lands adjacent to the community. The community takes its name from a resident family here.

Oak Hill is a large African American community which extends along Highway 17-A from St. Paul’s Church in the west almost to the city limits of Moncks Corner, a distance of about a mile and a half. It is probably named for a plantation which may have been in this same area.

Whitesville named in all probability for Mr. Tom White who owned the land where the community is located in the latter part of the last century, extends for an unknown distance. The white people here say that the community extends from the junction of Highways 34 and 316 southward to the second junction of Highway 410 with Highway 17-A. The Negroes here say it starts at the intersection of Highways 6 and 316, and extends southward (including the junction of Highways 34 and 316) to Highway 357, and perhaps a little farther on the west side of Highway 17-A. The confusion arises from the fact that this area is growing and the older communities here are dying out or losing their identity to Whitesville. The older communities in this area of fairly rapid transition will be taken up below. This community of Whitesville is by and large located about five miles west of Moncks Corner off Highway 17-A. Moss Grove was located to the east of Highway 17-A at its junction with Highway 34. It is said to have been a pineland summer village for the planters and named for Moss Grove Plantation on which it was situated.

The Barrows was another pineland summer village. It seems to have begun in the early 1800’s on the pinelands of North Mulberry Plantation. Some of the people who used to live here were the Barkers, Heywards, Stoneys, Stevens, and Motts, who came from the plantations along the Cooper River. There were nine houses here at the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. A small Episcopal Church, The Holy  Family, was built here about the middle of the past century and the Episcopal church has been here ever since. It is doubtful that any of the original houses of this village are still standing here now. The Negroes  still call this area The Barrows; the white people now call it Whitesville. Originally, that is shortly after the settlement was established here, it was called Raccoon Hall (see below), but the name was changed when mounds here were discovered to be of Indian origin. Pure blood Indians are said to have been living here as squatters as late as the end of the Civil War.

Raccoon Hall, the original name for The Barrows community, became, so to speak, the north end of the community and a community in its own right. It was said to be so called because the people living in The Barrows used to hunt raccoons there on winter nights. Raccoon Hall, after the division was made in people’s minds about the two communities, was where the poor people lived. It is now called either Whitesville or The Barrows.

Ebenezer was a African American community during the thirties and perhaps earlier. It was located in the vicinity of Highways 357 and 17-A and took its name from the Ebenezer Church here. It is now called Whitesville.

Oak Park is a little African American community bordering The Barrows to the west. It is to the north of the little branch which separates it from the junction of Highways 50 and 17-A. The people who live here still called it by that name in 1960, but everyone else called it Whitesville or The Barrows depending upon one’s race. It seems to be the name of some plantation which perhaps existed near here.

The Cottage was another little community which existed just off Highway 17-A. Its location is rather vague, being between Highways 50 and 357, and to the east of 17-A. It seems to have been named for a plantation by the same name which existed here.

The Still a little African American community named for a turpentine still which once existed here, became Whitesville in the past twenty years. It was located opposite to and south of the junction of Highway 50 and 17-A, and bordered the latter.

The Gaillard Road the second one by that name in Berkeley County, is the local name and older name for Highway 357, which goes from Highway 52 in the east to Highway 17-A in the west, and about seven or eight miles out of Moncks Corner. It is evidently named for the Gaillard family who at one time may have owned property in the vicinity.

Jacob Pineland is on high ground in the corner, but on the west side of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad tracks from Highway 52, between Highways 357 and 52. There are quite a few Negro families who live in this pineland, but it is doubtful that it could be called a community as the people who live here do not refer to it as such. It is always referred to as a place. Presumably the pineland is named for some slave or trusted servant of an older day and age.

Fitzer [The spelling is the author’s] was a little white community, it is said, located on the north side of Wappoola Swamp where it is crossed by the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. It ceased to exist during the thirties, but took its name from the Fitzer family who lived there.

Charley Branch is the name given to a small tributary of Wappoola Swamp which marks the southwestern boundary of Jacob Pineland. Its origin is unknown.

Molly Branch is the name given to another small tributary of Wappoola Swamp which crosses the Gaillard Road (Highway 357) about a mile from Highway 52. Its origin is unknown.

Johnson Pineland is on the other side of Charley Branch from Jacob Pineland, but more towards the west. This pineland borders Oakley community (see below) down the hill. As in the case of Jacob Pineland, Johnson Pineland is more a location than a community. It could be theorized that a man named Jacob Johnson owned both pinelands, but because of the division of the pinelands by Wappoola Swamp one half of his name was attached, or became attached to one of the pinelands and the other half of his name did the same to the other half of his property. However, in absence of sufficient evidence, the origin is doubtful.

Locklair was a little African American community located on the south side of Highway 357 just beyond where the Highway crosses a small stream. It probably took its name from the Locklair family who perhaps owned land here at one time.

Bombaretta was still another small African American community located on the old Bombaretta Plantation from which it took its name. It bordered and was contiguous to the Locklair community, but on the side away from Highway 357.

Oakley has a post office, three stores and quite a few houses, although the majority of the houses are scattered down Highway 50 where they are not seen,* for Highway 52, which intersects 50 at Oakley, is the busier road. At the turn of the century Oakley was only a station on the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. The station, long abandoned, was located on and took its name from the old Oakley Plantation, apparently named for its onetime owners.

Church Hill was a little Arican American community located about a mile south from where the railroad tracks cross Highway 50 at Oakley, on the west side of the tracks. It took its name from a Negro church of unknown name which was located there.

Hickory Hill had only four houses fifteen years ago. Now it has none. This African American community was located about a mile and a half due west of the crossing of the railroad tracks by Highway 50. It probably took its name from an old plantation by the same name which may have existed here.

Fox Bank was a African American community located about a quarter of a mile due south of Hickory Hill Community. It seems to have taken its name from a swamp plantation which was in the area.

St. Johns community lies just to the east, off Highway 17-A on Highway 372, to the north of Daisey Swamp. It seems to perpetuate the name of the old Episcopal Parish of St. John’s, Berkeley, which encompassed most of Berkeley County.

Seaton is a African American community located on the continuation of Highway 50 to the east of Highway 52, five miles south of Moncks Corner. At one time, about forty years ago, it had  everal stores. It seems to have taken its name from the Broughton Plantation, Seaton Hall, which was located here.

Junction Hill is the local name given, or used to be given, to the fork of the road in the middle of the Seaton community. Possibly the name perpetuates the joining of two old roads at this point.

Judge Stan Hill was the name given to a now nonexistent community, located about half a mile down from the Seaton community on the same side of Wappoola Swamp and Highway 52. It is said to have been named for a Judge Stan, who lived here, probably on a piece of high ground.

(Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC) – Only minor changes and revisions have been made to his data.

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