Founded about 1735 on land granted to John Jackson in 1701, Old Jacksonborough served as the county seat of Colleton District from 1799 to 1822. It was the provisional capital of the state while Charleston was under siege in the closing months of the American Revolution. The first South Carolina Legislature met here in January and February 1782, holding its sessions in the Masonic Lodge and Tavern and passing the Confiscation and Amercement Acts.