Four Holes Swamp Bridge / Harley's Tavern

The first bridge across Four Holes Swamp, a branch of the Edisto River, was built between 1770 and 1780 about 200 feet north of the present bridge. On the road from Orangeburg to Charleston, it was the site of several actions in 1781 and 1782 in which South Carolina militia and Patriot forces under Colonels Henry and Wade Hampton and William Harden clashed with Loyalists. In 1803, William Harley opened the first post office in what is now Dorchester County at his tavern, a frequent stop for travelers on the Columbia Road, near the present site of the Department of Public Works. Harley's son James, who lived from 1801 to 1867, is buried just north of the site on U.S. Highway 178, and the town of Harleyville was named for William's grandson William W., who lived from 1825 to 1906.

South Carolina · United States