In 1969, the site was donated to the South Carolina State Park Service and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1969.

The park boasts one of the most well-preserved oyster-shell tabby forts in the country, St. George's Bell Tower, log shipping wharves, burial sites and cemeteries, as well as on-going archaeological digs that are still unearthing the settlement's history.

On November 20, 1676 the Earl of Shaftsbury granted 1,800 acres of land to John Smith, which included the future Dorchester site.

The site's advantageous location helped the town thrive - nearby roads led to Charleston and to the interior of the colony and the Ashley River provided a convenient highway for the shipment of goods and produce.

[5] Trade with Native Americans, the development of rice and indigo as cash crops and a growing population, helped secure Dorchester's economic peak in the mid 1700s.

[8] Built in the center of Dorchester, St. George's Anglican Church was originally erected and completed in 1719 and the Bell Tower, which stands today, was added in 1751.

[9] As Dorchester was being turned into an armed camp for American forces at the beginning of the Revolution, a plan was submitted for fortifying St. George's Church.

"[5] The Earthquake of 1886 that devastated Charleston, split the tower along its height and for many years after, it was held together with iron straps until it was repaired in the early 1960s.

In December 1781, American forces, led by Colonel Wade Hampton and General Nathanael Greene, advanced on the town and the British were driven out of Dorchester.

[5] In 1788, a traveler wrote, I passed Dorchester, where there are the remains of what appears to have once been a considerable town: there are the ruins of an elegant church, and the vestiges of several well-built houses.