Editing York County, South Carolina (section)

===18th century===
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 state of [[South Carolina]]. Its boundaries remained unchanged until 1897 when a small portion of the northwestern corner (including the site of the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]]) was ceded to the newly formed [[Cherokee County, South Carolina]].

[[Image:Banastre-Tarleton-by-Joshua-Reynolds.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Portrait of Banastre Tarleton]]''; oil by Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]].]]
By 1780, the Carolina Upcountry had an estimated population of more than 250,000, predominantly Scots-Irish Presbyterians but with significant numbers of other [[Protestant]]s from Great Britain. The Scots-Irish settled in a dispersed community pattern denoted by communal, clannish, family-related groups known as "clachans", much the same as in Pennsylvania and [[Ulster|Ulster, Northern Ireland]]. The clachans developed around the Presbyterian [[Kirk]]s, or meetinghouses, and became the forerunners of the congregations. In York County, the ''"Five B" churches'', all Presbyterian—Bethany, Bethel, Bethesda, Beersheba, and Bullock's Creek—are the county's oldest.

Sandwiched between unfriendly natives to the west, [[Cherokee]], [[Shawnee]] and [[Creek (people)|Creek]] Native American tribes, and indifference on the part of English officials in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], who considered residents of the Backcountry uncivilized, the early settlers frequently found themselves targets of Native American raids. The local [[militia]] became an early police force, patrolling the area for possible Native American or [[slavery|enslaved]] rebellions and controlling the seemingly numerous outlaw bands that roamed the region. Militia units, or "Beat Companies", enrolled every able-bodied man on the frontier.

[[File:KingsMountain DeathOfFerguson Chappel.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Kings Mountain]] in northwestern York County]]
Residents of the Upcountry were initially slow to take sides in the [[American Revolutionary War]], content to remain neutral as long as left unmolested; the conflict was initially viewed as one between the [[British Crown]] and Charleston [[plutocrat]]s. The New Acquisition entered into vocal opposition to Royal authority in 1780 only after three "invasions" of the region: the first by [[Banastre Tarleton]] and his [[Tarleton's Raiders|"Green Dragoons"]], and two more by [[Lord Cornwallis]]. Most of the state had capitulated to the British after their capture of Charleston. Still, after the [[Waxhaw massacre]] in nearby Lancaster County in May 1780, residents of the New Acquisition took part in a regional resistance. Led by men such as William "Billy" Hill, [[William Bratton (Revolutionary War)|William Bratton]], and Samuel Watson, both the battles of [[Huck's Defeat]] and [[Battle of Kings Mountain|Kings Mountain]], were fought in the New Acquisition. These defeats forced Cornwallis northward and led to his ultimate surrender at [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|Yorktown]].

After the defeat of the British, Upcountry residents enjoyed a more significant share of administration in their region. The area experienced phenomenal growth after the war. In the first [[United States census]] (1790), York County had a population of 6,604; 923 were listed as enslaved, with just nine men enslaving 230. Less than 15% of the county's population lived in bondage in 1790, while the state averaged 30%.

A county seat was laid out in 1786 at Fergus' Cross Roads, where several roads converged near the [[geography|geographic center]] of the county. The new town was first known as the village of York, or more commonly, York Court House. In 1841, the town was incorporated as "[[York, South Carolina|Yorkville]]."  In 1823, its population (as recorded by local architect, [[Robert Mills (architect)|Robert Mills]]) was 441—which included 292 whites and 149 blacks. By 1840, the population had reached 600; in 1850, Yorkville consisted of 93 dwellings and 617 inhabitants. In the years just before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the town gained a reputation as a summer [[resort]] for many [[Lowcountry]] planters trying to escape the [[malaria]]l [[swamp]]s of the region for the more moderate climate to be found in the Upstate. By 1860, the town's population had topped 1,300—an increase of more than 125% in only one decade. During the American Civil War, the town became a focal point for residents from the Lowcountry as a refugee destination during U.S. Army [[military occupation|occupation]] of their towns.