Before the Civil War, this was known as the "dark corner of the county." Cotton plantations were developed along the waterfronts to take advantage of the fertile soil and to have access to the rivers, which was the basis of transportation until later in the 19th century, when trains were developed. Planters were dependent on the labor of numerous black enslaved African Americans. The county population was majority black and enslaved; it continues to be majority black in the 21st century.