Originally called Marlow for the first postmaster, John W Marlow, who was appointed 6 May 1880. He was replaced by Jasper E Kennedy (his brother-in-law) in 1881, William H. Page in 1883, Christopher C. Marlow (John W Marlow's son) in 1884, and William Burgess in 16 Apr 1887. William Burgess remained the postmaster until his death 25 Sep 1934, and successfully changed the name to Burgess 15 Aug 1906. During the late 1890s Burgess was an
African American farming community. According to the 1990 census, the Burgess Community population was approximately 3,000, then grew to 25,000 according to the 2010 census. Burgess during the last 20 years has transitioned from a rural community to a predominantly suburban community. Numerous master planned communities have been developed since 1990 such as
TPC, Blackmoor and Laurel Woods. There are large tracts of land that remain undeveloped which retains some of the rural characteristics that preceded its rapid growth. Burgess also has a community center called Burgess Community Center located on
South Carolina Highway 707 near Mt. Zion Church and
St. James Middle School and just down the street from
St. James High School. ==Major roads/highways==