RMS – Georgetown

About forestry service, 29069, Lamar, SC, US, South Carolina

Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Sampit rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year, while Charleston is the largest. Beginning in the colonial era, Georgetown was the commercial center of an indigo- and rice-producing area. Rice replaced indigo as the chief commodity crop in the antebellum era. A timber industry also developed and sawmills were built. == Geography == Georgetown is located at 33°22′3″N 79°17′38″W (33.367434, −79.293807). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.5 square miles (19.5 km2), of which 6.9 square miles (17.9 km2) are land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), or 8.06%, is water. Winyah Bay formed from a submergent or drowned coastline. The original rivers had a lower baseline, but either the ocean rose or the land sank, flooding the river valleys and making a good location for a harbor.