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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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