HILTON HEAD'S FASCINATING PAST
Contrary to what many might think, there were people living on Hilton Head long before tourists started arriving in substantial numbers several decades ago, and even before it was a cotton plantation community in the more distant past.
Human habitation of Hilton Head Island probably dates back at least 4,500 years. Before that, wandering Indians...the first tourists...visited long before some decided to take up permanent residence. When our island was discovered by Europeans early in the sixteenth century, local indians already were engaged in agriculture, hunting, fishing and shellfishing.
Signs of our Indian predecessors, who lived here much longer than current white and black residents, are evident even today. Shell rings and mounds are the most prevalent remains of Hilton Head's earliest residents. Although shell mounds are usually indiscriminate piles of mixed oyster shells and artifacts, shell rings are rather formidable structures requiring a great deal of time and labor to construct. These rings can range in diameter from 130 to 150 feet, with wall thicknesses of 25 to 70 feet. They are believed to have served a ceremonial function.
European Discovery of Hilton Head
Contrary to what once was popular belief, Hilton Head was not named for the popular hotel chain! In fact, it was not even discovered by the English explorer for whom it was named, Captain William Hilton.
The first European explorer on the island is considered by many to have been a Spaniard, Pedro de Quexos, who discovered the Island sometime in the early 16th century. The English began establishing settlements on Hilton Head in the mid-17th century. William Hilton was among England's first explorers in the area, and kept careful maps and descriptions of his adventures.
By the 1790s, cotton was king on Hilton Head. Before the Civil War, there were about 24 plantations on which cotton was the main crop. Indigo, sugar cane and rice also were grown.
Many of the plantation owners enjoyed a very affluent lifestyle supported by Sea Island cotton, a very special type of cotton selling for premium prices, and the labor of numerous slaves. Tabby foundations of the plantation houses and remnants of slave cemeteries still are visible at a number of locations.
Effects of The Civil War
The Civil War brought an end to Hilton Head's plantation economy. Approximately seven months after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter (near Charleston), more than 12,000 Union soldiers and marines landed on Hilton Head. The invasion of Hilton Head was one of the largest naval engagements ever fought in American waters. With the arrival of Union forces, plantation owner families vacated their plantations. Hilton Head served as headquarters for the Union's Department of the South and for the blockade of ships seeking to transport supplies to the Confederate forces. The success of that blockade generally is credited with being one of the principal reasons for the military defeat of the Confederacy.
The area surrounding Fort Walker, in what now is Port Royal Plantation, became a thriving port. Its main street, known as "Robbers Row," boasted three hotels with reputations for quality that reportedly rivaled that of similar establishments at Newport, Rhode Island. Elaborate meals could be obtained at several saloons.
The strategic role of the island required the establishment of many military installations. They included four earthen forts, one battery, two camps, and a steam cannon (never fired) in defense of Port Royal Harbor. The federal government retained ownership of its holding on Hilton Head, and reactivated them for both the Spanish American War and World War I.
Many of the remnants of Hilton Head's military installations exist today, including the foundation, gun mount, and barrel of the steam cannon. The last stop on "Your Scenic Tour," Fort Mitchel on Hilton Head Plantation, is a good example of a Civil War earthen fort. Many of its earthworks remain substantially intact, and are posted with appropriate signs to help visitors understand what they are seeing.
Following the end of the Civil War, a substantial portion of the Island's land was distributed to freed blacks and to "loyal white northerners" at bargain prices. However, the post-war economy of Hilton Head never came close to equalling that of the early nineteenth century until very recently.
The Twentieth Century
Hilton Head remained rural through the first half of the twentieth century, with many parcels of land owned and used by northerners as hunting preserves. The last cultivation of cotton surrendered to the boll weevil, and the island's economy became based primarily on hunting and fishing.
By 1949, approximately 19,000 of Hilton Head's 25,000 acres had been consolidated into a single large hunting plantation. In 1950, Fred C. Hack, J.B. Fraser and C.C. Stebbins founded the Hilton Head Company, and acquired the land for its timber potential and for possible future development of summer beach colonies. Throughout the subsequent logging process, care was taken to preserve the Island's natural beauty to facilitate eventual development of a residential community.
In 1953, the Island's first regular ferry service from the mainland was established. Shortly thereafter, in 1956, the first bridge to the mainland was completed. The completion of Hilton Head's first bridge was truly a milestone in our history, because easy access by automobile made its present role as a resort and retirement community feasible for the first time.
Hilton Head reportedly was far more isolated in the early 1950s than it had been between 1836 and 1940. During that period, it had been a regular stopping place for the coastal steamers that operated along the Southeastern coast. Steamer service declined following World War I, when rice and cotton production in the area was largely discontinued. Trucks using newly paved north-south highways became a more efficient means of other coastal commerce, leading to the last of the coastal steamers to go out of business by 1946.
Hilton Head Becomes a Premiere Resort and Retirement Community
1956 also was important in the history of Hilton Head because it was the year the Fraser family withdrew from the Hilton Head Company, and founded The Sea Pines Company. The Sea Pines Company subsequently acquired what is now Hilton Head Plantation.
Under the direction of Charles Fraser, The Sea Pines Company immediately began development of Sea Pines Plantation. Sea Pines Plantation has become a prototype of how carefully planned development of major tracts of land can be accomplished without destroying much of the attractiveness of the land and of nature.
The uniqueness of the "Sea Pines approach" is excellent land use planning, setting aside of substantial tracts of land for amenities and open space areas, and protection of plans, the environment and property owners by extensive deed restrictions on all property. Sea Pines Plantation's "final" master plan, completed in 1974, included four golf courses, 75 tennis courts, and a covenant-enforced ceiling of 5890 residential dwelling units and 200 hotel rooms on 4,500 acres.
Hilton Head's other plantations are similar to Sea Pines Plantation in concept. In the opinions of many, some are even more attractive than their prototype neighbor! All have master plans, include many amenities and substantial open space, and are protected by strongly written covenants.
Many of the Island's plantations have matured to the point where they no longer are controlled by developers. Control of common areas and other operational matters now is largely in the hands of property owner associations (or the equivalent) in Sea Pines, Shipyard, Wexford, Long Cove, Port Royal, Hilton Head, Spanish Wells and Moss Creek Plantations. Control of other plantations will be in property owner hands in due course, when they reach predetermined levels of development.
Not all of Hilton Head is included within the confines of plantations, of course. Most commercial development and many attractive neighborhoods are located outside of plantation gates. Future development of areas not on plantations is protected by an Island-wide master plan and Land Management Ordinance that both limits density of development and controls the type of development permitted by area. The latter functions much like zoning in other areas of the country.
We Become A Town!
Beginning in the early 1970s, many Islanders began to realize that careful planning and control of development eventually would be necessary to preserve many of the best things about Hilton Head. In 1980, after Islanders' attempts to attain a greater role in Beaufort County decisions concerning Hilton Head failed, the Chamber of Commerce set up committees to investigate the possibility of incorporation. On May 10, 1983, with 52% of eligible voters participating, a referendum on incorporation of the Island passed...with about 60% of voters in favor. The voters also endorsed establishment of a council-manager form of government.
On August 2, 1983, the first municipal government elections were held, and a mayor and four at-large members of town council were elected. Three days later, the first Mayor and Town Council of the Town of Hilton Head Island were sworn in. Our present Town Council has five members elected from geographic districts, plus a council member and a mayor (who also is a council member) elected at-large.
On January 18, 1987 Town Council passed Hilton Head's new Land Management Ordinance. Passage represented the culmination of years of effort by the Planning Commission, Town Council and many others to place realistic controls over development and growth. The ordinance includes a zoning plan separating Hilton Head into residential, commercial and mixed use districts. In addition, corridor architectural review is mandated within 500 feet of main thoroughfares and waterfront.
Master plans of plantations were effectively grandfathered, and largely unaffected by the new Land Management Ordinance.
The Land Management Ordinance bases permissible levels of development on the ability of roads to accommodate traffic. The town also is committed to annual research and review of other areas of public concern, such as water supply, hurricane evacuation, schools and sewage management. If significant enough problems were found, action presumably would be taken.
Hilton Head Today and Tomorrow
Today, the Hilton Head community is one of the most attractive places to visit or live in anywhere. It boasts miles of beaches, dozens of golf courses, hundreds of tennis courts, over 200 restaurants, hundreds of shops, an excellent community orchestra and live theatre, and much more. In recent years, it has seen construction of two factory outlet malls, an enclosed shopping mall, new movie theaters, major discount stores and new grocery stores.
As a result, Hilton Head clearly is different from the place it used to be just three decades ago. It no longer is a sleepy backwater resort community familiar to only a privileged few. Instead, it is a vibrant resort and retirement community with a remarkable range of amenities for everyone to enjoy and a good mix of people from all over the USA and around the world. In addition, nearby areas of the mainland also are beginning to be developed...partially as bedroom communities for Hilton Head. By the time Hilton Head reaches "build out," it probably will have slightly in excess of 40,000 permanent residents versus more than 30,000 or so now. We believe that the majority of residents and visitors will be pleased with the results of future development. There still will be tranquility to be found behind plantation gates, and in numerous areas off-plantation. With good control of the character of future development, which our Land Management Ordinance may be counted upon to assure, our unique and remarkable package of amenities promises to become better than ever!
Hilton Head's past is, indeed, fascinating. Its future may well be of even greater interest...and we will have the opportunity to enjoy it!
