  We report on the discovery of a Cepheid population in the Sculptor Group
spiral galaxy NGC 247 for the first time. On the basis of wide-field images
collected in photometric surveys in V and I bands which were conducted with
three different telescopes and cameras, 23 Cepheid variables were discovered
with periods ranging from 17 to 131 days. We have constructed the
period-luminosity relations from these data and obtain distance moduli to NGC
247 of 28.20 $\pm$ 0.05 mag (internal error) in V, 28.04 $\pm$ 0.06 mag in I,
and 27.80 $\pm$ 0.09 mag in the reddening-independent Wesenheit index. From our
optical data we have determined the total mean reddening of the Cepheids in NGC
247 as E(B-V)=0.13 mag, which brings the true distance modulus determinations
from the V and I bands into excellent agreement with the distance determination
in the Wesenheit index. The best estimate for the true distance modulus of NGC
247 from our optical Cepheid photometry is 27.80 $\pm$0.09 (internal error)
$\pm$ 0.09 mag (systematic error) which is in excellent agreement with other
recent distance determinations for NGC 247 from the Tip of the Red Giant branch
method, and from the Tully-Fisher relation. The distance for NGC 247 places
this galaxy at twice the distance of two other Sculptor Group galaxies, NGC 300
and NGC 55, yielding supporting evidence for the filament-like structure of
this group of galaxies. The reported distance value is tied to an assumed LMC
distance modulus of 18.50 mag.
