History of Georgetown, SC

Georgetown and Georgetown County suffered terribly during Reconstruction (1865–1876), as agriculture was low nationally. In addition, the rice crops of 1866–88 were failures due to lack of capital preventing adequate preparation for new crops, inclement weather, and the planters' struggle to negotiate dealing with free labor and a shortage of labor. Not only were freedmen traveling to reconstitute families, but adults withdrew women and children as field laborers. Many freedmen families wanted to work for themselves as subsistence farmers, rather than labor for major planters. Rice continued to be grown commercially until about 1910, but never on the scale or with the profits attained before 1860. By the time the Reconstruction era ended, the Georgetown economy was shifting to harvesting and processing wood products; by 1900 there were several lumber mills in operation on the Sampit River. The largest was the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company which provided a much needed boost to the local economy. The Atlantic Coast Company mill in Georgetown was the largest lumber mill on the east coast at the time.

20th century

In 2012, historian Mac McAlister said that around 1905, "Georgetown reached its peak as a lumber port."

As the twentieth century dawned, Georgetown under the leadership of Mayor William Doyle Morgan began to modernize. The city added electricity, telephone service, sewer facilities, rail connections, some paved streets and sidewalks, new banks, a thriving port, and a new public school. The US government built a handsome combination Post Office and Customs House.

Like most cities, Georgetown suffered great economic deprivation during the Great Depression. The Atlantic Coast Lumber