Coosawatchie

Front: Coosawhatchie, dating to the 1740s, was named for the Coosaw tribe. At first it was little more than a store and inn built on the King's Highway by Henry DeSaussure, a Huguenot settler from Purrysburg. By the 1760s, it was a regional trading post and crossroads. During the Revolution British troops burned most of the buildings and the nearby bridge in a 1779 raid. Reverse: Coosawhatchie served as the capital of Beaufort District from 1789 to 1836, when a new courthouse was built in Gillisonville. In 1861-62 Gen. Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate Dept. of S.C. and Ga., had his headquarters here. In 1864, during the last months of the Civil War, several skirmishes were fought nearby. This has been a village of farmers and merchants ever since.