By G. Anne Sheriff

Courtesy Pickens County

news@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — Pickens County was Cherokee Indian territory until the American Revolution.

The Cherokees sided with the British, suffered defeat, and surrendered their South Carolina lands. This former Cherokee territory was included in the Ninety-Six Judicial District.

In 1791, the state legislature established Washington District, a judicial area composed of present-day Greenville, Anderson, Pickens and Oconee counties, and then composed of Greenville and Pendleton counties. Streets for the courthouse town of Pickensville (near present-day Easley) were laid off, and soon a cluster of buildings arose that perhaps included a large wooden hotel, which served as a stagecoach stop.

In 1798, Washington District was divided into Greenville and Pendleton

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