About Hilton Head Accommodations

History

Although Hilton Head Island did not have vacation rentals a thousand years ago, it was none the less, a favored spot for “holidays”! The first "vacationers"were small bands of nomadic Indians who appeared in the area about 10,000 years ago following herds of mammoths and mastodons. During this time, the coastal Indians produced the first pottery in North America and bits and pieces of this fiber-tempered* pottery can be found along creek and riverbanks as well as on our beaches. Local Indian culture reached its peak between 1,000 and 1,500 AD. By the time the first Europeans arrived in 1521, the Indians inhabited villages governed by chieftains and primitive agriculture supplemented hunting.

The Spanish occupied the Port Royal Sound area in 1521, fully 100 years before the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia. French Huguenots arrived in 1562 fleeing religious persecution in France. The Protestants established the colony of Charlesfort, known to be somewhere in the area of Beaufort. Although befriended by the Indians, and living in an area rich in resources, the French survived just six months and sailed back to France.

The Spanish returned in 1566 and founded the colony of Santa Elena and Fort San Marcos on Parris Island. They brought Arabian horses, a number of which escaped and lived on the nutritious grasses of the tidal marshes. These horses, known as marsh tackies, multiplied along the coast and their descendants are still used as draft horses in rural areas of Beaufort County.

In 1663, William Hilton was sent to explore the coast of the Carolinas. He wrote back glowing reports of the area describing its suitability for habitation and agriculture. In time, this island became known as Hilton Head Island. Scottish immigrants established Stuart’s Town in 1684, near the present day city of Beaufort, which the Spaniards burned four years later. The Yemassee Indians having lost their lands to the wave of incoming Europeans, made war on local settlements until their defeat in 1715.

Englishmen began settling on the Port Royal Sound islands in 1698. Islands such as Hilton Head and St. Helena were sold in large tracts in the 18th century that became the famous plantations of the Low Country. There they grew cotton, indigo, sugar cane, spices, fruits and purchased a variety of vegetables from the Indians. Names such as Seabrook, Lawton, Stoney, Fripp and Elliott name geographic areas today, but refer to some of the wealthiest plantations masters of the ante-bellum years.

Rice was one of the first plantation crops in South Carolina but took second place to sea island cotton in this area. In the 19th century, prime cotton producing land was sold for up to $1,000 per acre as compared to beachfront property which sold for as little as $.50 acre. Prior to the Civil War, there were at least 26 cotton plantations on Hilton Head Island.

In 1861, the Union invaded Port Royal Sound in what is known as the Battle of Port Royal, the largest military assault the U.S. military had ever taken. Hilton Head Island became the headquarters for the Federal government’s Department of the South and the staging area for the naval blockade that ran from North Carolina to Florida. Support personnel numbered as high as 50,000 and the plantations became the property of the government. Three years after the troops had stormed the Island the entire Confederacy collapsed.

For the next 80 years, Hilton Head Island saw a quiet rural lifestyle. It's isolation allowed the continuance of a language, social order and spiritual practices which along with other factors rich in African traditions, became known as the Gullah culture.

At the turn of the 20th century, northern industrialists purchased large tracts of land for hunting preserves. In the early 1950’s, Union Camp, Westvaco and other timber companies purchased thousands of acres of rural land in the area. Charles Fraser, a young lawyer and son of one of the timber men, purchased 5,300 acres to create a unique community called Sea Pines Plantation. Fraser pioneered community master planning based on protective covenants. In Sea Pines, one of every four acres are legally preserved for wildlife habitat, historical parks and recreations. This model has been adapted throughout the country by many resort, residential and retirement communities. Today, Hilton Head Island has become a fully developed town with 30,000 residents, yet still, less people live here than during the Civil War!

Our Island vacation rentals may contain all modern luxuries and conveniences, but many of the scenic vistas enjoyed by our accommodations are the same as they were thousands of years ago! Source: Southeastern Ecological Institute.

*Fiber tempered pottery was made with local clay and mixed with Spanish Moss or some other vegetable fiber to aid in the release of moisture during firing.