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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.
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