Kingstree, South Carolina, is part of Williamsburg County, one of the original 11 townships meant to be established by Governor Robert Johnson by orders of King George in 1730. Robert Johnson was asked to develop the “back country” of the Carolina Province, but ultimately only formed eight townships, Williamsburg included.

A white pine tree in Williamsburg was marked with the King’s Arrow as a potential ship mast. The tree, however, was neither claimed nor cut, and is now known today as “The King’s Tree.” This is the origination of Kingstree’s name, the chief town of Williamsburg County.

The township was named after William the Orange. In 1732, a colony of 40 Scots-Irish, led by Roger Gordon, took a boat up the river and settled in the vicinity of The King’s Tree. They were poor Protestants that fled to America. These early settlers shared the land with the Wee Nee, Wee Tee, Chickasaw, Creek, Waccamaw and Pedee Indian tribes. The settlers did not war with the Indians, but engaged in trade, until the Indians eventually suffered from European disease the settlers brought with them.

Kingstree and Williamsburg played an integral part in the American Revolution. Several of the men were sent to defend Charleston and later, after returning home, found that Williamsburg was the only area to be unoccupied by the British. The British attempted to secure Williamsburg with a garrison at Willtown, but Francis Marion’s men defeated them and drove them off into the Battle of Mingo Creek. The British burned Williamsburg down at one point, calling it the “hotbeds of sedition.” With the aid of General Greene, Marion eventually drove the British back to Charleston and freed South Carolina.

In 1780, the grandson of one of the early settlers, John Witherspoon, wrote: “…they were servers of God, were well acquainted with the Scriptures, were much engaged in prayer, were strict observers of the Sabbath, in a word, they were a stock of people that studied outward policy as well as inward purity of life.”