Everything about Hilton Head Island totally explained
Hilton Head Island or
Hilton Head is a town (located on an island of the same name) in
Beaufort County, South Carolina,
United States. It is 20 miles (32 km) north of
Savannah, Georgia, and 95 miles (153 km) south of
Charleston, South Carolina. The island features 12 miles (19 km) of beachfront on the
Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destination. In 2004, an estimated 2.25 million visitors pumped more than $1.5 billion into the local economy. The year-round population was 33,862 at the
2000 census, although during the peak of summer vacation season the population can swell to 275,000. Over the past decade, the island's population growth rate was 32%.
The island has a rich history that started with seasonal occupation by native Americans thousands of years ago, and continued with European exploration and the Sea Island Cotton trade. It became an important base of operations for the Union blockade of the Southern ports during the
Civil War. Once the island fell to Union troops, hundreds of ex-slaves flocked to Hilton Head, which is still home to many 'native islanders', many of whom are descendants of freed slaves known as the
Gullah (or Geechee) who have managed to hold onto much of their ethnic and cultural identity.
The Town of Hilton Head Island incorporated as a municipality in 1983 and is well known for its "eco-friendly" development. The Town's Natural Resources Division enforces the Land Management Ordinance which minimizes the impact of development and governs the style of buildings and how they're situated amongst existing trees. As a result, Hilton Head Island enjoys an unusual amount of tree cover relative to the amount of development. Approximately 70% of the island, including most of the tourist areas, is located inside
gated communities. However, the Town maintains several public beach access points, including one for the exclusive use of town residents, who have approved several multi-million dollar land-buying bond referendums to control commercial growth.
Hilton Head Island offers an unusual number of cultural opportunities for a community its size, including Broadway-quality plays at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, the 120 member full chorus of the Hilton Head Choral Society, the highly-rated Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, the largest annual outdoor, tented wine tasting event on the east coast, and several other annual community festivals. It also hosts the
Verizon Heritage, a stop on the
PGA tour which is played on the
Harbour Town Golf Links in
Sea Pines Resort.
History
Early history
An ancient Shell Ring can be seen near the east entrance to the Sea Pines Forest Preserve. The ring, one of only 20 in existence, is in diameter and is believed to be over 4,000 years old. Archeologists believe that the ring was a refuse heap, created by Native Americans that lived in the interior of the ring, which was kept clear and used as a common area. Two other Shell Rings on Hilton Head were destroyed when the shells were removed and used to make tabby for roads and buildings. The Shell Ring is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places and is protected by law.
Since the beginning of recorded history in the New World, the waters around Hilton Head Island have been known, occupied and fought for in turn by the English, Spanish, French, and Scots.
A Spanish expedition led by Francisco Cordillo explored the area in 1521, initiating European contact with local tribes.
In 1663, Captain William Hilton sailed on the
Adenture from Barbados to explore lands granted by King Charles II to the eight Lords Proprietors. In his travels, he identified a headland near the entrance to
Port Royal Sound. He named it "Hilton's Head" after himself. He stayed for several days, making note of the trees, crops, "sweet water" and "clear sweet air".
In 1698, Hilton Head Island was granted as part of a barony to John Bayley of Ballingclough, County of Tipperary, Kingdom of Ireland. Another John Bayley, son of the first, appointed Alexander Trench as the Island's first retail agent. For a time, Hilton Head was known as Trench's Island. In 1729, Trench sold some land to John Gascoine which Gascoine named "John's Island" after himself. The land later came to be known as Jenkin's Island after another owner.
In 1788, a small Episcopal church called the Zion Chapel of Ease was constructed for plantation owners. The old cemetery, located near the corner of William Hilton Parkway and Mathews Drive (Folly Field), is all that remains. Charles Davant, a prominent island planter during the Revolutionary War, is buried there. He was shot by Captain Martinangel of Daufuskie Island in 1781. On
October 29,
1861, the largest fleet ever assembled in North America moved South to seize it. In the
Battle of Port Royal, the fort came under attack by the U.S. Navy, and on
November 7,
1861, it fell to over 12,000 Union troops. The fort would be renamed Fort Welles, in honor of
Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy.
Hilton Head Island would have tremendous significance in the Civil War, becoming an important base of operations for the Union blockade of the Southern ports, particularly Savannah and Charleston. The Union would also build a military hospital on Hilton Head Island with a frontage and a floor area of .
Hundreds of ex-slaves flocked to Hilton Head Island, where they could buy land, go to school, live in government housing, and serve in what was called the
First Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers (although in the beginning, many were "recruited" at the point of a bayonet). A community called
Mitchelville (in honor of General
Ormsby M. Mitchel) was constructed on the north end of the island to house them.
The Leamington Lighthouse was built in the 1870s on the southern edge of what is now Palmetto Dunes.
On
August 27,
1893, the
Sea Islands Hurricane made landfall near
Savannah, Georgia with a storm surge of and swept north across South Carolina, killing over a thousand and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
20th century
An experimental steam cannon guarding Port Royal Sound was built around 1900 in what is now Port Royal Plantation. The cannon was fixed but its propulsion system allowed for long range shots for the time.
In 1931, Wall Street tycoon, physicist, and patron of scientific research,
Alfred Lee Loomis along with his brother-in-law and partner, Landon K. Thorne, purchased on the island (over 63% of the total land mass) for about $120,000 to be used as a private game reserve.
On the Atlantic coast of the island are large concrete gun platforms that were built to defend against a possible invasion by the
Axis powers of World War II. Platforms like these can be found all along the eastern seaboard. The Mounted Beach Patrol and Dog Training Center on Hilton Head Island trained
U.S. Coast Guard Beach Patrol personnel to use horses and dogs to protect the southeastern coastline of the U.S.
In the early 1950s, three lumber mills contributed to the logging of of the island. Fraser was buried next to the tree when he died in 2002.
The Heritage Golf Classic (now the
Verizon Heritage) was first played in
Sea Pines Resort in 1969, and has been a regular stop on the
PGA tour ever since. These events helped to polarize the community, and the Chamber of Commerce started drumming up support for the Town to incorporate as a municipality. After the Four Seasons Resort (now Hilton Head Resort) was built along William Hilton Parkway (derisively referred to as "stack-a-shacks" by some Town residents), a referendum of incorporation was passed in May of 1983. Hilton Head Island had become a town.
Government
The Town of Hilton Head Island incorporated as a municipality in 1983 and has jurisdiction over the entire Island except Mariner's Cove, Blue Heron Point, and Windmill Harbor.
Town departments include Building & Fire Codes, Business License, Code Enforcement, Finance, Fire & Rescue, Human Resources, Legal, Municipal Court, Planning, and Public Projects & Facilities.
The Town had a budget of $74,753,260 for fiscal year 2006/2007.
Office holders as of February 2008:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hilton Head Island'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hilton_head_island__south_carolina.totallyexplained.com">Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
