| The
town of Bluffton, located in what was the
King's grant to Lord Proprietor Colleton, has
had quite an interesting and important
history.
Situated
on the "High Bluff" overlooking the
beautiful May River, it came to be, in the
early 1800's, the summering place where the
families of the rice and cotton planters of
the surrounding "Low Country" could
escape the heat, insects and malaria of the
near sea-level plantations.
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It was a merry
place where everyone swam, boated, fished,
crabbed, shrimped and, in the cooler weather,
enjoyed the oysters, clams and scallops as the
Indians long before them had done and as the
present day residents still do.
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Bluffton
grew. Travel between the coastal towns in the early
days was, of course, mainly by water. So, as it was
situated between Savannah on the south and Beaufort
and Charleston on the north, Bluffton became an
important distribution center. Out of Bluffton to the
coastal cities flowed the crops from the farms and
plantations (and often from there to Europe). And back
came the supplies the farms needed. Soon the main
street of Bluffton, leading to the town wharf, boasted
well-stocked general stores and boarding houses to
serve the increasing number of travelers. This
commerce brought Bluffton year-round residents.
In
1844 the planters around Bluffton became angered by
Federal tariffs which were making the goods they
imported from abroad excessively expensive. Out of
this discontent grew the "Bluffton
Movement." Incensed planters gathered beneath
what became known as the "Secession Oak" and
the secessionist movement was born. Sixteen years
later South Carolina became the first state to secede
from the Union. On June 4, 1863, several Union
gunboats and a transport carrying 1,000 infantrymen
steamed up the river to Bluffton because, as the
officer in charge wrote in his report, "This town
has been the headquarters for the rebels for a long
time in this vicinity." Troops were landed with
orders to fire the town. Confederate soldiers attacked
but were outnumbered and outgunned. When shelling and
torching ended and the Union forces withdrew, 34 or
more homes, churches and other buildings had been
destroyed. This, of course, was a severe blow to the
town which took years to overcome.
But
Bluffton is as resilient as it is unique. Its
antebellum homes and churches, many of which still
stand, are as interesting today as on the day they
were built. And their third and fourth generation
owners are as proud of them as their great
grandparents were. Interspersed with them are newer
structures and newer people: scholars, artists,
musicians, writers, scientists, farmers and
businessmen from many places. And an increasing number
of young people who work in Savannah or Beaufort or
Hilton Head Island choose to live in Bluffton, drawn
not only by the bluff, the river and the weather but
most of all by a feeling of what can only be an
extremely strong mixture of community and independence
. . .and that's Bluffton.
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