Great Western Pleasure Mare

Settled by indigenous peoples for thousands of years, the area of Moncks Corner was occupied by the historic Edistow people, a sub-tribe of the Cusabo. Its various bands shared a language distinct from that of the major language families in the present-day state: Algonquian, Siouan, and Iroquoian, including Cherokee. Although now extinct as a tribe, Edistow and Catawba descendants make up the eight families of the Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians, a community located between Moncks Corner and Summerville. The 1,500-member tribe were recognized by the state as an Indian group in 2005. During the colonial era, Moncks Corner became a major settlement area of French Protestant Huguenots, who came to South Carolina between 1684 and 1688 as refugees due to religious persecution in France.