Williamson's Bridge over Black Creek had been built by 1771. In 1780 part of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion's South Carolina militia brigade, the "Pee Dee Regiment" or "Cheraws Militia" under Lt. Col. Lamuel Benton (1754-1818), clashed here with Loyalists. Benton's militiamen forced the Tories from the bridge, pursued them for some distance, and finally routed them in hand-to-hand combat.