A
Brief History of Our Island
Hilton Head
Island takes its name from William Hilton, a sea captain who,
in 1663, claimed the island for England. There is evidence that
humans have inhabited this Atlantic barrier island since 10,000
BC.
In the
late 17th century, threats from Spaniards and Indians began
to recede and colonization began. During the colonial period
hunting and farming were the main pastimes on Hilton Head
Island with the main crops being indigo and rice.
Planters discovered that cotton grew well here and, after
the Revolution, local cotton crops were a big part of the
boom years in the Lowcountry before the Civil War.
When the
Union troops took over the island following the Battle of Port
Royal Sound in November 1861, the local farmers retreated to
the mainland, leaving their homes and crops.
All that
remained were the slaves who had toiled and labored for the
crops on the plantations. At the end of the war and after
the Emancipation Proclamation, these slaves and their families
inherited large portions of the land and began a life of diligent
farming and fishing, marking the start of the historic Gullah
culture.
Only about
500 people lived on Hilton Head until the about 1948 when
a Georgia timber man named Fred Hack first saw its fine stands
of pine and oak trees. Hence, Hilton Head Island’s “modern”
history began.
The areas
which we know today as Hilton Head, Palmetto Hall, Port Royal,
Shipyard and Spanish Wells plantations, as well as Indigo
Run, Long Cove, Wexford, and other properties began to be
purchased by Hack and his partners.
Mr. Charles
Fraser, son of one of Hack’s original partners, is responsible
for the gated community development style we have become so
familiar with on Hilton Head Island. During the early 1950s,
Fraser created Sea Pines Plantation, the culmination of his
vision of a resort community that would preserve the island’s
natural beauty. Sea Pines became the model for the communities
which now dominate the island’s
residential areas. The first bridge was built in 1956, and
that marked the end of Hilton Head’s legendary solitude.
Fraser’s vision to create a world-class resort and residential
community had become a reality.
Responding
to the pressures of rapid growth and development, the Town
of Hilton Head Island was incorporated as a limited services
government in 1983. The town offices, once located on Palmetto
Parkway, moved to their current location near Wexford Plantation
in 1992.
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