Colonial Dorchester

Colonial Dorchester. Networks of Trade. The Ashley River served as an early highway between Dorchester and Charles Towne. It provided planters easy access to the largest market in Carolina for their crops. But as the colony expanded inland, it became an obstacle to overland travel and trade., The bridge that finally crossed the river here in the 1720's connected Dorchester to the growing network of inland roads and communities, and it funneled goods and people through the heart of the village. Like other bridges in the colony, the 150 foot long Dorchester Bridge providied "for the Conveniency of Travellers from North Carolia to Georgia, as also from Charles Towne, to the interior Settlements." , ( Right text ) , To maintain the links in the local chain of roads, in 1744 the Dorchester bridge and four others in St.George's were declared parish bridges subject to repair with public funds and labor. , "The Province is conveniently traversed with public Roads," wrote the surveyor general of the southern colonies, " and the Rivers are made passable with well constructed wooden Bridges.", ( Background Illustration from the collection of the S.C. Historical Society )