Between 1765 and 1770, a group of settlers, mostly from North Carolina, settled and received grants for land in the vicinity of what is now Rockyford. Among these first settlers were Benjamin Lanier, Lemuel Lanier, Valentine Hollingsworth, Francis Jones, Thomas Mills, Anthony Bonnell, Abraham Mincey, Robert Dickson, and Michael Dickson. The first county seat of Screven County was established here on Dec. 14, 1793, and the home of Benjamin Lanier, across Mile Branch, was the first courthouse.