For centuries, the land that is now Pendleton was the territory of the
Cherokee nation. After England claimed South Carolina as a colony, the Cherokee
traded with the British. After the Cherokee lost the war of 1759-60 against the
British, the British dominated trade in the region and began to settle more of
the land with large farms. Andrew Pickens, who was a general in the
Revolutionary War moved to the area and commissioned the district of Pendleton
in 1790. During the first half of the 1800s, wealthy families built homes in
Pendleton. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1789–1865) built Woodburn Plantation in
1830
