This state park is located on the north bank of the Ashley River. It includes the site of the colonial town of Dorchester, established in 1697 by a group of settlers from the Congregational Church of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The settlers laid out a village of 116 quarter-acre lots, with a community mill site and a market place, similar to a typical Colonial New England town. The Anglican Parish Church of St. George was constructed in 1719, with a bell tower added in 1751, and a free school was established in the 1750s. Dorchester was a successful trading center until the economy began to decline in the mid-17th century. During the American Revolution, the village was occupied by British troops, who burned the church and the school buildings. Subsequently, the village was abandoned. The present-day site is home to numerous historic resources, including an underwater archaeological site, a historic dirt path that connected the village to Ashley River Road, and an 18th century wharf. The aforementioned Parish Church of St. George is visible in the ruins of a bell tower and an early 18th-century cemetery. Finally, the site features a tabby (should we explain tabby?) fort constructed in 1757 to protect the brick powder magazine in the center. The fort was occupied by both American and British troops throughout the Revolution, and is now considered to be the most well-preserved tabby fortification in the United States. Colonial Dorchester State Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.