Ridgeland, named for its location on the ridge between Charleston and Savannah, was first called Gopher Hill and grew up around a depot built on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad in 1860. The tracks formed the boundary between Beaufort and Hampton counties, so Ridgeland belonged to two counties until 1912. Chartered and incorporated in 1894, it had a population of about 500 when it became the seat of Jasper County after the county was created in 1912. The Georgian Revival courthouse was designed by William Augustus Edwards and built in 1915. U.S. Highway 17, constructed in the 1920's, long brought many visitors through the town on trips to and through the lowcountry.