History of Daufuskie Island
Daufuskie is a small island between Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Tybee Island, Georgia on the Atlantic East Coast. With no bridge connecting it to the mainland, Daufuskie is the first inhabited Carolina Sea Island and the southernmost tip of South Carolina territory. Two and half miles wide by five miles long, Daufuskie Island is a Pleistocene remnant, estimated to be between 80,000 and 120,000 years old. It has been inhabited almost continuously for nearly 4,000 years. The history of Daufuskie begins with the earliest inhabitants of the island, the Native Americans who called it Daufuskie, a Creek Indian name that means “sharp feather” or loosely translated “land with a point. and continues with the coming of the families who settled and owned the great plantations – Benjie’s Point, Bloody Point, Cooper River, Eigleberger, Haig’s Point, Mary Dunn, Maryfield, Melrose, Oak Ridge, Piney Islands, and Webb Tract.
From moccasin, plantation, slavery, war, and plough, Daufuskie has been many things to many people: to the Indian, it was a secluded place to live, fish, hunt and yes, to war; to the Indian trader, it means greed and wealth; to the plantation owner, it mean wealth, mansions, slaves, and prestige; to the plantation children, it meant security with expensive tasted, the finest education in schools here and abroad with little sense of responsibility and servants on every hand; to the Revolutionary War Tories, it was a gathering place, a hide-away; to the slave, it meant hard work, sacrifice, and restriction; to the freedman, it meant freedom to own a piece of land, freedom to build a little hut, freedman to plant a vine – a fig tree- and never fear that someone could take it from him; to the pioneer white people, the Island became a sanctuary, literally the land of milk and honey.
Almost entirely overlooked by outsiders until recently, when beach property has been nearly depleted on other islands in Beaufort County, Daufuskie Island has suddenly caught the attention of developers, tourists, national news media, and interested individuals concerned with preserving not only the natural environment of the region but also the distinctive island culture that has developed during the course of a three-hundred year history.
| This information is provided by Billie Burn, island resident for over 75 years, historian, and author of “An Island Called Daufuskie”. Miss Billie’s book is available on Amazon.com. |
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