Granby was the first European settlement in the area of present-day Columbia in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Settlement began around 1718 with the establishment of a trading post by the British on the Congaree River. Many small farms were settled by German, Swiss, and Scots-Irish immigrants. Granby was the largest town and county seat of Lexington County until the early 19th century, when the town began to gradually decline as Columbia, the state capital, grew. The once thriving colonial town was mostly unoccupied after the first quarter of the 19th century. Today, the area is part of present-day Cayce.