|
The
Discoverers
Following
on the heels of Columbus' discovery of the New
World in 1492, Spanish ships sailed up the
Carolina coast in the early 1500s. In 1562, when
Frenchman Jean Ribaut sailed here, there was no
visible evidence of Spanish presence. Ribaut
claimed the area for France and set up a fort on
a nearby island now known as Parris Island, home
of the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
Arrival
of Englishmen and Scotsmen
The
English arrived in 1629. King Charles I named
the region between Virginia and Florida after
himself (Carolina).
In
1663, Sir John Colleton sent Capt. William
Hilton from Barbados to explore the new Carolina
region. The island was later named Hilton Head
in his honor.
Permanent
Settlement
The
first Englishmen permanently settled on the
island in 1717. In that year, John Barnwell
started a 500-acre plantation in what is now
called Hilton Head Plantation, on the north end
of the island.
Many
other families came to the island in the 18th
century, including Baynards, Lawtons, Baldwins,
Davants, Draytons, Mongins, Popes, Scotts and
Stoneys.
Indigo
was the primary crop. Eliza Lucas, who became
Eliza Pinckney, an amateur botanist and
plantation wife, developed indigo at her
father's plantation near Charleston.
Cotton
Wealth
After
the Revolutionary War, cotton was introduced. At
the peak of the cotton prosperity, 26
plantations occupied the island. Additional
African labor was brought to the island.
The
Gullah culture of the island's black people,
which combines aspects of African and European
traditions, came into being during this
antebellum period.
Civil
War Occupation
The
old way of life on these plantations came to an
abrupt halt with the start of the Civil War.
President Abraham Lincoln and Union commanders
believed that the key to victory for Union
forces lay in the blockade of all Confederate
ports. Port Royal Sound at the north end of
Hilton Head was his first target.
Several
hours after the battle for Hilton Head began,
the rebel soldiers put up a white flag and
boarded boats to take them to the mainland.
Post
War
After
the war, Hilton Head suffered from the wave of
poverty that afflicted all Southern states. The
Gullah, descendants of slaves, took over about
20 percent of the land on the island.
The
Recent Past
In
the early 1950s, Gen. Joseph Fraser and Fred C.
Hack saw the potential of Hilton Head Island as
a vast tree farm. They purchased thousands of
forested acres on the island for timber.
It
was Joseph Fraser's son, Charles, who developed
Sea Pines and orchestrated the early growth of
the island into a resort community.
Modern-day
Developments
The
completion of the Cross Island Parkway, which
connects the island's north and south ends via a
6-mile stretch of toll road, is one of the most
recent stepping stones in Hilton Head's
development. Construction of the 5.6-mile
highway began in February 1995, but its
conception dates back to November 1957, when
developer Charles Fraser proposed a similar
route that also would have connected the north
and south ends of Hilton Head Island via a
bridge over Broad Creek.
|
