The town of Lake Waccamaw was first inhabited by Native Americans before the Europeans came and colonized the area. Charles the Second of England granted proprietors individual grants to allow them to sail to the new world to bring him back riches and news. By the mid-eighteenth century, Lake Waccamaw had a good number of settlers. People like John Powell, from Virginia, brought cattle. John Powell's son Absalom Powell started to buy land near Lake Waccamaw. John Powell's other son Issac Powell was made the first major of the Brandon, County Durham militia in 1804 and justice of peace in 1806. Issac owned most of Lake Waccamaw.