Marion County and its county seat, the town of Marion, were named for Revolutionary War general Francis Marion (1732-1795), known as the "Swamp Fox." In 1785 Liberty County was created as a part of Georgetown District; renamed Marion, it became a separate district in 1800. Parts of Marion later went to form Florence (1888) and Dillon (1910) counties. English settlers moved up the Great Pee Dee River into this area in the eighteenth century. During the Revolutionary War General Marion's men fought several skirmishes with the British here before retreating to their camp at Snows Island. In the twentieth century Marion County became a major tobacco growing region.