 During the Civil Rights Movement, Clarendon County was the site of the "Briggs v. Elliott" trial challenging segregation of public schools.This case was one of five combined with what came to be known as "Brown v. Board of Education", under which the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.Clarendon County was officially established in 1785, shortly after the American Revolutionary War, when the legislature divided Camden District into seven counties.