Counties of Virginia

1634: Formed in 1634 as one of the eight original shires (counties) of the Virginia Colony, York County is one of the oldest counties in the U.S.

1654: New Kent County was established in 1654 from York County.

1691: King and Queen County was established in 1691 from New Kent County.

1721: Spotsylvania County was established from Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties.

1734: Orange County was established from Spotsylvania.

1738: Formed from Orange County, Augusta County was created in 1738 by an Act of the General Assembly which provided that its territory should remain a part of Orange County until there were sufficient inhabitants to support a local government.

1743: Frederick County was created from Orange County.

1744: The Virginia General Assembly created Albemarle County by taking the northern portion of Goochland County.

1746: Lunenburg County was established on May 1, 1746 from Brunswick County.

1752: Halifax County was established in 1752 from Lunenburg County.

1753: Bedford County was established on December 13, 1753 from parts of Lunenburg County.

1761: Albemarle County was divided, forming Buckingham and Amherst counties, at which time the county seat was moved from the formerly-central Scottsville to a piece of newly-central land, christened Charlottesville.

1767: Pittsylvania County was formed in 1767 from Halifax County.

1770: Botetourt County was formed from Augusta County.

1772: Fincastle County was created from Botetourt County, whose boundaries extended all the way to the Mississippi River. Fincastle County was abolished in 1776, and divided into three new counties - Montgomery County, Washington County, and Kentucky County (which later became the Commonwealth of Kentucky).

1777: Montgomery County was established from Fincastle County. Henry County was established from Pittsylvania County.

1778: Rockbridge County was formed in 1778 from Augusta and Botetourt Counties. (The settlement within the bounds of present day Rockbridge, however, began in 1737 in Borden's Grant. The area was then a part of Orange County, Virginia. Augusta County began keeping records in 1745, and covered what is now many states.) Rockingham County was established in 1778 from Augusta County.

1785: Franklin County was formed in 1785 from parts of Bedford County and Henry County.

1786: Russell County was formed from Washington County.

1790: Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County.

1793: Lee County was formed from Russell County.

1799: Tazewell County was formed from parts of Wythe and Russell Counties.

1815: Scott County was formed from parts of of Russell and Lee Counties.

1855: Wise County was formed from parts of Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties.

1858: Buchanan County was formed from parts of Russell and Tazewell Counties.

1880: Dickenson County was formed from parts of Wise and Buchanan Counties.

South Carolina Districts & Counties, 1785

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The 1785 act gave the Cheraws District the counties of Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Darlington; it divided Camden District into York, Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster, Richland, Claremont, and Clarendon counties. It gave Ninety-Six District the counties of Spartanburg, Union, Laurens, Newberry, Abbeville, and Edgefield. And it divided Orangeburg District into Orange, Lewisburg, Lexington, and Winton (an early version of Barnwell) counties.

(Source: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/guide/countymap2.htm)

South Carolina Proprietary Counties, 1682

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In 1682, after the first hard years of settlement, the Proprietors ordered three counties laid out. Berkeley County, centering around Charleston, extended from the Stono River on the south to Seewee Creek (present-day Awendaw Creek) where it emptied into Bulls Bay on the north. Craven County lay north of Berkeley County, and below Berkeley, Colleton County extended to the Combahee River. Later, a fourth county, Granville, was laid out between the Combahee and the Savannah rivers.

(Source: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/guide/countymap2.htm )

York County Gets A Toehold

The colony of South Carolina was founded in 1670, and was divided into three counties 12 years later. Craven County, which roughly encompassed the northern half of South Carolina, included the southern half of present-day York County, while the top portion of present-day York County was considered part of North Carolina.
Before the boundary between the two Carolinas was fixed in 1772, the northern portion of York County was originally part of Bladen County, North Carolina. In 1750 it was included in the newly created Anson County, North Carolina; the first land grants and deeds for the region were issued in Anson County.
In 1762 Mecklenburg County, North Carolina was formed from western Anson County, and included present-day northern York County. Five years later the area became part of Tryon County, which comprised all of North Carolina west of the Catawba River and south of Rowan County. The area would remain a part of Tryon County until 1772, when the boundary between North and South Carolina was finally established.
After its transfer to South Carolina in 1772, much of the area was known as the New Acquisition. In 1785, York County was one of the original counties in the newly created South Carolina, and its boundaries remained unchanged until 1897, when a small portion of the northwestern corner was ceded to the newly-formed Cherokee County.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Carolina Counties

1712: Archdale Precinct (created 1709) of Bath County was renamed Craven Precinct.

1729: New Hanover Precinct of Bath County was formed from Craven Precinct. (It was named for the House of Hanover, which was then ruling Great Britain.)

1734: Bladen and Onslow Precincts were formed from New Hanover.

1739: With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became "Counties".

1750: Anson County, NC was formed from Bladen County.

1753: Rowan County, NC was formed from the northern part of Anson County.

1762: Mecklenburg County, NC was formed from the western part of Anson County.

1764: Brunswick County was created from New Hanover and Bladen Counties. Brunswick later gave up some of its lands for Columbus County in 1808.

1768-1779: Tryon County, NC existed for only 11 years (1768-1779). The area it covered was one of the first inland population centers in America, located west of the Catawba River and covering parts of present day North and South Carolina. Tryon County had been formed from Mecklenburg County in 1768, and abolished* in 1779 to form Rutherford and Lincoln counties. From its formation until the Carolina border survey of 1772, Tryon County included all or portions of the South Carolina counties of York, Chester, Union, Spartanburg, and Cherokee counties. This is why Mecklenburg County, NC records contain land grants that are physically in South Carolina.

1777: Burke County, NC was formed from Rowan County.

1779: Rutherford County, NC came into existence in 14 April 1779 during the American Revolution. Prior to 1779, Rutherford County was part of Tryon County.

1788: Iredell County was incorporated when it was formed from adjacent Rowan County.

1792: Cabarrus County was formed from Mecklenburg County.

1842: McDowell County, NC was formed from parts of Burke and Rutherford Counties.

*Tryon County had been named for North Carolina's British governor William Tryon.

Anson County, Large to Small

Anson County, North Carolina was formed in 1750 from Bladen County. It was named for the British Baron, George Anson, who circumnavigated the globe from 1740 to 1744 and later became First Lord of the Admiralty.
Like Bladen, its parent county, Anson County was originally a vast territory with indefinite northern and western boundaries. Division began in 1753, when its northern part became Rowan County. In 1762, Mecklenburg County was created from the western part of Anson County. In 1779, the northern part of what remained of Anson became Montgomery County, and the segment east of the Pee Dee River became Richmond County. Finally, in 1842, the western part of Anson County was combined with the southeastern part of Mecklenburg County to create Union County.

Counties of Georgia

May 20, 1733: The original Creek land cession to Georgia founder James Edward Oglethorpe formally recognized English colonial proprietorship of lands extending up the west side of the Savannah River (the border of South Carolina) to the Fall Line region and into the Piedmont.

1758: Original Georgia lands were reorganized to form a series of parishes, including St Paul Parish in the lower Piedmont region west of the Savannah River around present-day Augusta.

1777: Richmond County created from the old St. Paul Parish; Wilkes County also created just to the north along the Savannah River from Cherokee/Creek land cession of 1 June 1773.

1784: Franklin and Washington Counties created on Georgia's northern and western frontier from Cherokee land cession of 31 May 1783 and Creek land cession of 1 November 1783; Georgia then extended from the Savannah River on the east to the Oconee River on the west.

1786: Greene County created from the northern Piedmont portion of Washington County.

1790: Columbia County created from part of Richmond County; Elbert County created from part of Wilkes County.

1793: Hancock County created from portions of Greene and Washington Counties; Warren County created from portions of Columbia, Hancock, Richmond, and Wilkes Counties; Oglethorpe County created from part of Wilkes County.

1796: Jackson County created from part of Franklin County; Lincoln County created from part of Wilkes County.

1801: Clarke County created from part of Jackson County.

11 May 1803-26 June 1806: Baldwin and Wilkinson Counties created from Creek land cessions of 16 June 1802 and 14 November 1805; with the distribution of this land in the 1807 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Ocmulgee River.

1807: Jones, Morgan, Putnam, and original Randolph (later Jasper) Counties created from portions of original Baldwin County.

1811: Madison County created from portions of Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Oglethorpe Counties.

1812: Jasper County created from old Randolph County (renamed).

1818: Gwinnett and Walton Counties created from Cherokee land cession of 8 July 1817 and Creek cession of 22 January 1818.

15 May 1821: Fayette, Henry, Houston, and Monroe Counties created from Creek land cession of 8 January 1821; with the distribution of this land in the 1821 Land Lottery, Georgia then extended west to the Flint River.

24 December 1821: Newton County created from portions of Henry, Jasper, and Walton Counties.

1822: Bibb County created from portions of Houston, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs Counties; Crawford County created from part of Houston County; DEKALB County created from portions of Fayette, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties; Pike County created from part of Monroe County.

1824: Upson County created from portions of Crawford and Pike Counties.

1825: Butts County created from portions of Henry and Monroe Counties; Taliaferro County created from portions of Greene, Hancock, Oglethorpe, Warren, and Wilkes Counties.

1826-1827: Carroll, Coweta, Muscogee, and Troup Counties were created from Creek land cessions of 24 January 1826, 31 March 1826, and 15 November 1827; with the distribution of this land in the 1827 Land Lottery, Georgia then extended west to its present Piedmont boundary at the Chattahoochee River and beyond.

14 December 1827: Harris County created from portions of Muscogee and Troup Counties; Marion County created from portions of Lee and Muscogee Counties; Meriwether and Talbot Counties created from part of Troup County.

1828: Campbell County created from portions of Coweta, Carroll, DeKalb, and Fayette Counties.

1830: Heard County created from portions of Carroll, Coweta, and Troup Counties.

1832: Lumpkin County was created on December 3, 1832. The county was named for former governor of Georgia Wilson Lumpkin. Lumpkin's daughter, Martha Atalanta Lumpkin Compton, was the source for the city name of Marthasville (which was the previous name for Atlanta).

1837: Macon County created from portions of Houston and Marion Counties; White County was formed from Habersham and Hall.

1851: Spalding County created from portions of Fayette, Henry, and Pike Counties.

1852: Taylor County created from portions of Macon, Marion, and Talbot Counties.

1853: Fulton County created from part of DeKalb County.

1854: Chattahoochee County created from portions of Marion and Muscogee Counties.

1856: Haralson County created from portions of Carroll and Polk Counties.

1857: Glascock County created from part of Warren County.

1858: Clayton County created from portions of Fayette and Henry Counties; Banks County created from portions of Franklin and Habersham Counties.

1870: Douglas County created from portions of Campbell and Carroll Counties; McDuffie County created from portions of Columbia and Warren Counties; Rockdale County created from portions of Henry and Newton Counties.

1875: OconeeCounty created from part of Clarke County.

1905: Stephens County created from portions of Franklin and Habersham Counties.

1914: Barrow County created from portions of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton Counties.

1920: Lamar County created from portions of Monroe and Pike Counties.

1924: Peach County created from portions of Houston and Macon Counties.

1932: Fulton County absorbed old Campbell and Milton Counties.