The ferry crossing was vested with Richard Gallivant for an initial period of fourteen years and the permitted fees were stated in British pounds sterling.

This area of the state was isolated by numerous rivers and swamps, so access was difficult, and its residents were sometimes referred to as inhabiting the "Independent Republic of Horry".

J. W. Holliday first came to Horry County in 1852, having leased 9,000 acres (36 km2) of pineland along the Waccamaw River at Pot Bluff for a turpentine operation, which produced naval stores.

Sap bled from the trees produces turpentine, pitch, and tar, all of which were transported down the Pee Dee River to Georgetown to be used on the hulls of wooden boats to prevent marine worm infestation.

In 1869 he opened a store on the banks of the Little Pee Dee River that grew to become the major source of farm supplies in Western Horry County.

While the rest of the state and region suffered the consequences of the boll weevil plague on the cotton crop, Holliday experimented with tobacco in 1900, expanding its cultivation throughout the area by the 1920s.

In 1876, the now famous, longest-running political gathering was held in the Galivants Ferry district featuring General Wade Hampton, former Civil War hero, in his run for governor.

During its heyday in the early 20th century, Galivants Ferry formulated the basis for Horry County's tobacco heritage as well as maintained The Old Democratic Primary campaign speeches.