|
Hilton Head Island History
The following information and photographs were provided by the Coastal Discovery Museum. The Museum gathered the information for the timeline from Town residents and long-time Islanders. The Museum relied on significant input from the Community to put together the timeline. A book entilted "Images of America Hilton Head Island" covers the Island's history and is available for sale at the museum, (843)689-6767.
Native American Occupation 8000 B.C. - 1500 A.D.
8000 B.C. - 1000 B.C. - Archaic Period Native Americans visited this area seasonally.
1335 A.D. Green's Shell Enclosure, a 4-foot-tall shell ridge that encloses 2 acres, was built along the banks of Skull Creek.
European Explorers 1500 - 1700
1521 - A Spanish expedition, led by Francisco Cordillo, explored this area, initiating European contact with local tribes.
1663 - Capt. William Hilton sailed from Barbados, on the Adventure, to explore lands granted by King Charles II to the eight Lords Proprietors. Hilton Head Island takes its name from a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound.
1698 - John Bayley, of Ireland, was given most of Hilton Head Island as a barony. Twenty-four years later, his son appointed Alexander Trench as his agent in charge of selling the land. For a short time, Hilton Head was called Trench's Island on some 18th century maps.
Plantation Era 1700 - 1860
1711 - Beaufort, South Carolina was founded.
1760s - Beaufort County's shipbuilding industry was one of the largest in the 13 colonies. The deep-water creeks around Hilton Head and the prevalence of hardwoods (like live oak) made the island a popular place for shipbuilding. The USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," was rebuilt in 1997 using live oaks felled during construction of Hilton Head Island's Cross Island Parkway.
1779 - Privateers sailing with the British navy burned many houses on Skull Creek and around the island on their way to Beaufort and Charleston. Hilton Head residents tended to be Patriots, while Daufuskie residents were Tories.
1780 - Daufuskie Islanders burned several Hilton Head homes, including the Talbird home.
1788 - The Zion Chapel of Ease, a small wooden Episcopal church for plantation owners was constructed. All that remains is the cemetery, home to the Baynard Mausoleum, near Mathews Drive.
1790 - William Elliott II, of Myrtle Bank Plantation, grew the first successful crop of long-staple, or Sea Island, cotton in South Carolina on Hilton Head Island.
1813 - During the War of 1812, British forces landed on Hilton Head Island, burning many of the houses along Skull Creek.
1860 - There were more than 20 working plantations on the island before the Civil War. Most plantation owners did not live on Hilton Head. The island was populated with slaves and overseers.
The Civil War and the Union Occupation 1860 - 1865
1861 - Beginning in July, Fort Walker was built on Hilton Head Island at the entrance to Port Royal Sound in Order to protect the port from Union attacks.
1861 - On November 7th, Union forces attacked Fort Walker (later renamed Fort Welles in honor of Gideon Welles, secretary of the Navy) and Fort Beauregard in the Battle of Port Royal. Nearly 13,000 Union troops flooded onto the island in the days after the battle.
1862 - Hilton Head Island was also referred to as Port Royal, in reference to the Port Royal military installation. Port Royal was the home to the Department of the South.
1862 - Hilton Head's population swelled to over 40,000, including Union troops, civilian store-keepers, missionaries, prisoners of war, and slaves seeking refuge from their owners.
One of the oldest structures on the island, the Queen Chapel, A.M.E. Church is located on Beach City Road. African Methodist-Episcopal missionaries founded the Queen Chapel in 1865. The original building has been a praise house used by slaves on the Pope plantation. The structure was updated in 1892 and 1952.1862 - Gen. Ormsby Mitchel set up the town of Mitchelville to house the island's first freedman's village. Mitchelville residents elected their own officials, passed their own laws, and established the first compulsory education law in the state. The Mitchelville community was built along modern-day Beach City Road.
1862 - Fort Mitchel was built as a battery to protect Skull Creek from Confederate attacks. Fort Sherman, which circled the military installation, was completed.
1865 - The First African Baptist Church was founded in August. Several island churches formed out of this church, including St. James, Goodwill, Central Oakgrove, and Mt. Calvary.
Reconstruction and Isolation 1870s - 1940s
1868 - Large-scale military occupation of the island had ended. The island's population dropped to only a few thousand.
1870s -Some of Hilton Head Island's plantations were reclaimed by their antebellum owners after paying back taxes charged to their property. Other properties were held by the United States government, sold to speculators, or sold to freedmen who remained on the island after the Civil War.
1872 - The island was once again referred to as Hilton Head Island.
1893 - An enormous hurricane hit Beaufort County, killing at least 2,000 people in the county and flooding parts of the island with its 12-foot surge. Many of Hilton Head Island's structures were destroyed in this storm.
1901 - A 15-inch steam cannon was installed and tested on the beach at Coggins Point (modern-day Port Royal Plantation). It was 1 of 13 designed to protect the United States coast.
1917 - Troops were stationed at the former Union Fort Walker during World War I as lookouts for possible submarine attacks.
1920s - Gullah native islanders sailed bateaux from Hilton Head to the mainland, carrying people, crops, and livestock to the market on River Street in Savannah. Charlie Simmons Sr. operated the first mechanized ferry in 1930 from Simmons Fish Camp, located near Marshland Road.
The Hilton Head Lighthouse was originally built by the Coast Guard in the 1870's. This lighthouse was built nearly 1 mile inland, and a smaller range lighthouse was built closer to the beach. Now, it is called the Leamington Lighthouse and is no longer used for navigation.1920s -The Hudsons and Toomers operated oyster factories on Hilton Head Island from the 1890s until the 1950s. By this time, the boll weevil had destroyed almost all of the Sea Island Cotton in the region.
1940 -The island's population was approximately 1,100 most of whom were descendants from freedmen who had made their homes on Hilton Head.
1941 -Marines were stationed at Camp McDougal near the Leamington Lighthouse. The lighthouse had been built in the 1870's and was known as the Hilton Head Lighthouse until the Palmetto Dunes development, Leamington, began. Marines paved the first road on the island, which ran from the ferry landing at Jenkins Island (now Outdoor Resorts) to the lighthouse.
Mainland Connection and Modern Era 1949-1990s
1949 - A group of lumber associates from Hinesville, Georgia, bought a total of 20,000 acres of pine forest on Hilton Head's southern end for an average of nearly $60 an acre. They formed The Hilton Head Company to handle the timber operation. The associates were Gen. Joseph B. Fraser, Fred C. Hack, Olin T. McIntosh, and C.C. Stebbins.
1950 - Logging took place on 19,000 acres of the island. There were three lumbermills built to harvest the timber. The island population was only 300 residents.
1950 - The first electricity was brought to the island by Palmetto Electric Cooperative.
1953 - A state-operated car ferry began running from Buckingham Landing (near Bluffton, on the mainland) to Jenkins Island (at Outdoor Resorts).
1954 - Hilton Head Elementary School opened for the island's black students. Isaac Wilborn was the principal of the elementary school from 1954 until it closed in 1974. The school was replaced by a new integrated school constructed on a new site in 1975.
1955 - Beaufort County state representative Wilton Graves opened the Sea Crest Motel on Forest Beach. At first, it consisted of two rooms. The first vacation cottages were developed on Folly Field Road.
1956 - The J. Byrnes Bridge opened on May 20, 1956. This was the first bridge connecting Hilton Head to the mainland. The cost was $1.5 million. At first, the bridge cost $2.50 per round trip. The toll was phased out by 1959. The Byrnes Bridge was a swing bridge. It swung open to allow boats to pass through on either side of the center support. This opened the island to automobile traffic from the mainland. This year, forty-eight thousand cars traveled across the bridge. The $2.50 toll was discontinued in December 1959.
1956 - Charles E. Fraser, bought his father's interest in The Hilton Head Company and began developing it into Sea Pines Plantation.
1956 - Norris and Lois Richardson opened the first supermarket on the island, located near Coligny Circle in the North Forest Beach area.
1956 - The Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce was established.
1958 - First deed to a lot in Sea Pines Plantation was signed. Beachfront lots initially sold for $5,350. By 1962, they were selling for $9,600.
1958 - Telephone service was offered by Hargray Telephone Company. The first Hilton Head office did not open until 1960.
1959 - The island's first golf course, the Ocean Course, designed by George Cobb, was built in Sea Pines Plantation.
1960 - The McIntosh family subdivided 360 acres of The Hilton Head Company to start Spanish Wells.
1961 - Port Royal Plantation was developed by Hilton Head Company, led by Fred Hack.
1965 - The Sea Pines Medical Center was built. It was staffed by a retired doctor who lived in Sea Pines but served the entire island community.
1965 - Hilton Head Island had its first rural mail route established.
1967 - Sea Pines Plantation installed the island's first gates.
1967 - The Palmetto Dunes area was acquired from the Hilton Head Agricultural Company by Palmetto Dunes Corporation, headed by William T. Gregory, for $1,000 per acre.
1967 - The Hilton Head Airport opened.
1969 - Harbour Town village was completed. The full-time population of the island was 2,500.
1969 - The first Heritage Golf Classic played at Sea Pine's Harbour Town Links.
1970 - Island Packet newspaper was first published.
1970 - The Hilton Head Company started Shipyard Plantation.
1971 - Sea Pines acquired land on the north end of the island, which was developed into Hilton Head Plantation.
1974 - The swing-bridge was struck by a barge which force island residents to travel off the island on a pontoon bridge constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The bridge was closed for six weeks.
1975 - The island's full-time population by this time was 6,500. Over 250,000 visitors came to Hilton Head.
1975 -Hilton Head Hospital was completed.
1979 - Hurricane David missed the island, but high winds left beached eroded and destroyed several Singleton Beach homes.
1982 - A four-lane bridge was built to replace the two-lane swing-bridge to the island. The island's full-time population was 12,500. More than 500,000 visitors came to Hilton Head in 1982.
1982 - Wexford Plantation and Long Cove Club were developed.
1983 - The Town of Hilton Head Island incorporated as a municipality.
1985 - Hilton Head's Comprehensive Plan was adopted by the town council. The population was over 17,000 full-time residents.
1987 - The town council passed the Land Management Ordinance of the Town of Hilton Head Island.
1989 - The Cross-Island Parkway project was approved. The Parkway's bridge spans Broad Creek and links the south end of the island to the north end.
1995 -The permanent year-round population exceeded 28,000 people. The island had over 1.5 million visitors.
1995 - Construction on the Cross-Island Parkway began.
1996 - The Master Land Use Plan for Ward One was started by the Town.
1997 - Cross Island Parkway opened in January. The total cost was $81 million for construction, land acquisition and planning. |
 |
The Townes at Buckwalter: The Townes at Buckwalter
Portrait Homes' newest community in the Bluffton area, the Townes at Buckwalter offers low maintenance living for residents who enjoy gorgous grounds with walking and bicycle paths, a pond, a pool, and a clubhouse.... More On This Community
|
 |
Forest Cove: Forest Cove
Forest Cove is a private condominium-style neighborhood situated in Broad Creek Landing on Hilton Head, SC. It is secludedly nestled among tall pines and boasts calming lagoons and a community pool. Other boasts include marsh views.... More On This Community
|
 |
Bloody Point: Bloody Point
Bloody Point is a community at the Southernmost point in South Carolina. From the mile long beach you can look to Savannah, Georgia to the South and Hilton Head Island just across the water to the North. Bloody Point, named after a battle in 1715 in ... More On This Community
|
 |
Palmetto Dunes/Shelter Cove: PALMETTO DUNES/SHELTER COVE
Palmetto Dunes and Shelter Cove are popular residential communities situated mid-island. Stretching over 1,800 acres this well preserved area has 1,012 homes and 1,470 villas, three miles of illustrious Atlantic Ocean beaches, 11 miles of meandering ... More On This Community
Search Listings By MLS Area: PALMETTO DUNES/SHELTER COVE
|
|
|
Donna & Bruce Winter | Keller Williams Realty | 8 Lafayette Place | Hilton Head Island,
SC | 29926 | ©2012 Donna & Bruce Winter. All rights reserved. | The Smith Group | Login | Sitemap
|
| | |
Loading Data...
