Dorchester

Formed January 1, 1897 (38^th county)

Dorchester County (161,469), Saint George (1,840), Summerville (50,973)

The dark red brick courthouse was built in 2009 and sits on Jim Bilton Boulevard at Dutch Krakell Road.  United States Highway 78 is one block south of the courthouse.  There was an earlier 1965 courthouse in Saint George, the only county seat.  Stevens & Wilkinson are the architects.  An Administration Building (an old high school) and a Services Building augment the courthouse.  The courthouse features columns and a fountain in front.  The county was organized on January 1, 1897 from parts of Berkeley and Colleton counties as the 38^th county.  The county was named for Dorchester, Massachusetts.  St. George is named for Saint George Parish, an original political division before the counties. 

Dorchester County government consists of a sheriff and 7 Council Members.  Two Circuit Court Judges and Four Family Court Judges serve Dorchester, Calhoun, and Orangeburg counties.  The county is in southern South Carolina.  Charleston, South Carolina is directly southeast and Columbia, South Carolina is northwest of the county.  The county center is 2.3 miles Southeast of Saint George.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Orangeburg, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, and Bamberg counties. 

The area of the county is 571 square miles.  It is 27 out of 46 in the state.  It ranks 12 out of 46 in population in the state.  It has a density of 282.8 persons per square mile making it 7 out of 46 in the state.  Dorchester County has 46.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 26 passes northwest to southeast in the county from Orangeburg County to Berkeley County.  Interstate Highway 95 enters from Orangeburg County, and exits south into Colleton County.  United States Highway 15 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Orangeburg to Colleton counties.  United States Highway 17 Alternate comes from Berkeley County, east, and goes into Colleton County, south.  United States Highway 78 crosses from Orangeburg County to Berkeley County.  United States Highway 178 comes from Orangeburg County and terminates.  Dorchester County looks like the state of New Jersey leaning toward the northwest.  Saint George is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Summerville is near the southeast border of the county and extends into Berkeley and Charleston counties.  Saint George is the county seat and Summerville is the largest city.  Saint George is 1.1% of the county population while Summerville is 31.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced DOER-CHES-TER.  This county is in the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area