Galivants Ferry was named in 1792 for Richard Gallevan, who owned ferry rights for Elirsee's Landing on the Little Pee Dee River. The ferry became an important crossing on the road to Conwayborough, the county seat, later renamed Conway. Robert Mills's Atlas of S.C. from 1825 shows "Evans Store" here. In 1869 Joseph William Holliday (1827-1904) opened a general store here, and by 1900 J.W. Holliday was one of the region's leading tobacco farmers. Galivants Ferry then stood at the center of a large community of tenant farmers who grew tobacco on Holliday's land. The Galivants Ferry Historic District, with its houses, barns, and other agricultural buildings, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.