One year after securing their charter for Carolina, the eight Lords Proprietors established three counties within the new colony of Carolina. None of the three counties were ever surveyed or properly laid out; all were ambiguous geographical areas that changed over time, and none had any real governmental seat or political connotations to their existence.

Craven County was considered to be at the southern part of the Carolina colony, extending below the Cape Fear River to include present-day Georgia and northern Florida, and to extend to the west as far as the Pacific Ocean. At the time of its inception in 1664, there were no British settlers in Craven County, and there would not be until 1670, when the first group of Barbadians finally settled along the Ashley River in what is present-day Charleston, named Charles Town until it was shortened after the American Revolution in 1785. 

In 1682, the Lords Proprietors decided to establish two new counties, south of Craven, and these were named Berkeley and Colleton. Craven was deemed to lie between the Cape Fear River (in present-day North Carolina) and southward to the mouth of the Awendaw Creek in present-day Berkeley County, South Carolina. The newly-established county of Berkeley County in 1682 was deemed to lie between the Awendaw Creek and the mouth of the Stono River in what is present-day Charleston County. The new Colleton County was deemed to lie south of the Stono River - to whatever.

In 1684, a fourth county was established from Colleton County, and it was named Carteret County. The new Carteret County was deemed to lie between the mouth of the Combahee River and the mouth of the Savannah River. This now made Colleton County to lie between the mouth of the Stono River and the mouth of the Combahee River.

In 1708, Carteret County was renamed to Granville County.

From 1682 to 1769, these four South Carolina counties - Craven, Berkeley, Colleton, and Carteret/Granville - were never surveyed or properly laid out; all were fairly ambiguous geographical areas with no real governmental seat or political connotations to their existence.

In 1706, the Lords Proprietors established the "Parish system" of South Carolina, which began as a means to assign jurisdiction of the Church of England (Anglican) along the lines that were in use in England at the time. Soon, these parishes effectively became the geopolitical units that not only administered the church's day-to-day activities but also administered governmental activities within South Carolina. The term "county" had no meaning other than to describe a rough geographical area until well into the Royal Period, and even during that era the term "county" was only used to help define and describe where parishes were located. There were no county courts nor any county records - all courts and records were held in Charles Town until 1769.

In 1768, South Carolina eliminated all counties, including Granville County and established seven new "overarching Districts," with judicial seats in each district. This law was at first rejected by Parliament, but was soon approved in 1769. From 1769 to 1785, these "overarching Districts" remained intact, however, the district seats did change some during that time-frame.

But, tradition refused to be ignored. During the American Revolution, the long-held history of raising militia in each of the four old counties continued, even though the new state government really didn't want this to happen. Too many leaders wanted to keep their militia roles active and they overruled the new lawmakers.

After the American Revolution in 1785, South Carolina re-established the concept of counties and twenty-three (23) "new" counties were defined and established. Each of these new counties were "subsets" of, and subordinate to the "overarching Districts" that had been in existence since 1769. Some were abolished between 1785 and 1800, whereas others were created during that period.

In 1800, South Carolina abolished all "overarching Districts" and essentially went with the county concept from that year forward. However, in 1800, all counties were now called "districts" and would continue being called districts until after the American Civil War. In 1868, South Carolina reverted back to the term "county" and this term has been used continuously since then.