Caching Around Beaufort, SC 3/5/2010

We drove into Beaufort this morning to do a little sightseeing and a lot of caching. Beaufort has quite an old history and it starts back when the native Indians were living here seasonally as early as 4000 BC. Evidence of early settlement remains today in the form of a 3400 year old "Indian shell ring" in Hilton Head Island's Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
Written history began 500 years ago with the discovery of the area by Spanish Captain Pedro de Salaza in 1514. Thus, Beaufort County was the site of the second landing on the North American continent by Europeans, in 1514. The first landing --Ponce de Leon at St. Augustine-- was only a year earlier.
The seaport of Beaufort is located at the head of one of the largest natural harbors on the Atlantic coast, which explains the early interest of the Spanish and French explorers that followed . When they sailed up the sound in the 1520's, they found a land inhabited by many small tribes of Native Americans, the largest of which were the Cherokees and the Catawbas.
French explorers visited this area long before the English arrived. In 1562, Captain Jean Ribaut and his Frenchmen entered the sound which he named Port Royal. They settled near the present town of Port Royal. As they were Huguenots, this was the first Protestant settlement in the United States.
When Ribaut returned to France for reinforcements the soldiers who were left behind revolted, built themselves a ship, and sailed for France the next year. This was the first ship built in America to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
After the French fled, Spaniards from Florida built Fort San Felipe on Parris Island in 1566 and made the new settlement there, known as Santa Elena, the capital of La Florida Province. In 1576, under attack from Native Americans, Santa Elena was abandoned, but the fort was rebuilt the next year. Archeologists have positively determined the location to be on the Parris Island golf course.
In 1587, England's Elizabeth I sent Sir Francis Drake to drive the Spanish from "La Florida". The Spanish decided to concentrate their forces in St. Augustine, and withdrew from Santa Elena.
South Carolina was again left to the Native Americans. But, English development plans formally began on March 24, 1663, when King Charles II granted the Coastal Area to 8 Lord Proprietors. They named their territory "Carolina" in honor of King Charles I.
Hilton Head Island is named for the English sea captain William Hilton who was hired by a syndicate of Barbadian planters. He sighted the high bluffs of the island in August of 1663, while exploring the Port Royal Sound, and named it for himself, "Hilton Head," referring to the headlands visible as they sailed the uncharted waters. Within a few years, the English had established the first permanent European settlement of South Carolina at Albemarle Point, near present-day Charleston, on the Ashley River in 1670. The proprietors' first settlers included many Barbadians, and South Carolina came to resemble more closely the plantation economy of the West Indies than did the other mainland colonies.
The Scots arrived in the area in 1686. The first trade was with the Indians for deer skins, a valuable commodity back in England, but indigo became the first cash crop. The climate and soil on the Sea Islands were favorable for its growth, and England was a great market for indigo.
Carolina was divided in 1710 into South Carolina and North Carolina
Indian attacks, sponsored by the Spanish, continued to harrass the settlers in the area. The Yemassee Indians were particularly fierce. Settlement of Savannah and the colony of Georgia was encouraged so as to set up a buffer from the Indians --in particular the area around Beaufort where indigo was thriving. Indians last significantly threatened the colony's existence in the Yemassee War of 1715.
Settlers from the British Isles, France, and other parts of Europe built plantations throughout the coastal lowcountry. Beaufort, the second oldest town in South Carolina, was founded in 1711. Both Beaufort County and its county seat of Beaufort were named for Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (1684-1714), one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina.
African slaves were brought into the colony in large numbers to provide labor for the plantations, and by 1720 they formed the majority of the population. The ports of Georgetown, Charleston, and Beaufort became important centers of commerce and culture. In the years before the Civil War, rice, indigo, and sea island cotton plantations brought great wealth to the entire lowcountry region.
Parris Island, (Santa Elena) was bought in 1715 by Alexander Parris, Public Treasurer of South Carolina.
In 1717, For acts of bravery in quelling the rioting Yemassee Indians, Col. John Barnwell was granted a thousand acres on the NW corner of Hilton Head Island by the Lord Proprietors. He became the first white settler. By 1766, approximately 25 families lived on Hilton Head Island.
Beaufort County was formed in 1769 from the parishes of Prince William, St. Luke, St. Helena, and St. Peter.
Thomas Hayward, Jr., a local rice plantation owner, signed the Declaration of Independence.
As talk of Revolution escalated in the Colonies, Hilton Head Island sided with the Colonists. Daufuskie Island, just 1 mile south, was occupied by the Tories and was a British stronghold. During the Revolution, the British frequently raided Hilton Head Island and burned plantations and captured slaves who were later sold in the West Indies. The raids continued even after Cornwallis surrendered.
South Carolina lost more men, and gave more money to the Revolutionary cause than any other Colony. More Revolutionary War battles and skirmishes were fought in South Carolina than any other colony.
England had provided the market for indigo, this vanished after the Revolution. The settlers turned to cotton. In 1790, Hilton Head Island was the first island to grow cotton. Sea island cotton became the finest cotton available in the world.
Many of the sea island plantation owners built their summer homes on the banks of the Beaufort River to catch the cool prevailing breezes. Beaufort was referred to as the "Newport of the South." The majority of the houses on the out-lying plantations, though large, were not pillared mansions.
During the War of 1812 the British again invaded Hilton Head Island and burned most of the houses located near navigable waters.
As the Civil War (expanded section) approached, Beaufort County was a focal point of secessionist sentiment, and the original Ordinance of Secession was drawn up in Beaufort.
Only seven months after the firing on Fort Sumter, a massive Federal armada steamed into Port Royal Sound and occupied the sea islands and port communities for the rest of the war. Because of this, much of Beaufort escaped the destruction of property --but the economy collapsed.
Besides freedom for the plantation slaves, the Civil War in Beaufort provided an opportunity for their Gullah culture to flourish and saw the establishment of Penn Center, then Penn Normal School, the first school for freed slaves in the South.
In 1878, a large portion of Beaufort County was removed to form Hampton County.
By 1890, Northerners again came, this time to hunt and fish the abundant game. Thousands of acres were sold to private hunt clubs for the wealthy. Hunt lands continued to expand. In 1931, remaining lands owned by the federal government were acquired as well. Access to the islands was by water only.
In 1891 a small detachment of Marines were sent to the area. The United States Marine Corps began training recruits at Parris Island in 1915. Nearly 20,000 Marines now graduate here each year.
During WW2, the Leamington Lighthouse on Hilton Head was the site of Camp McDougal. Gun emplacements along the Atlantic are still visible south as the sands shift with the tides.
Like many of the South's coastal regions, Beaufort's non-military economy in the first half of the 20th century depended upon agriculture, lumbering, and commercial fishing. Electricity and telephones were late coming to the remote regions, many small communites were not supplied until 1960. However, 1950 marks the beginning of modern development of Hilton Head, and the gradual transition of the coastal areas to resort, golf, and residential communities.
In the early '50s, Georgia investors purchased of 19,000 of Hilton Head Island's 25,000 acres. While lumbering occurred over much of the island, the southern tip became Sea Pines Plantation. Begun in 1956, Sea Pines is the site of Harbour Town and its landmark hexagonal lighthouse, world-class harbor and chic boutiques.
Dirt roads gave way to paved ones. Beautiful bridges replaced ferry boats accessing the sea islands. Residential communities were developed, often around original plantation boundaries.
Rapid growth of Hilton Head Island began in 1970. In 1983, the Town of Hilton Head was incorporated.
We found 11 caches in all which included several nice multi's, a virtual and a puzzle cache. They took us to a lot of the historical spots in town and along the waterfront park. We also drove to Port Royal, SC for a few caches which included a virtual cache about a missing buoy. This buoy on or about April 20, 1970 broke free from its moorings in Port Royal, SC and traveled 6000 miles to Scotland. One year and one day later it was observed off the coast of Scotland and towed to port by a British ship. The buoy was returned to Charleston late in 1973 at a cost of $92.01 and then returned to Port Royal. In June 1992 the buoy was placed in the F.O.P. Memorial Park where its light is kept burning in commemoration of all fallen police officers in the United States.
Another of the caches was aview of Parris Island from a spot on the shore which was commemorated by a plaque called Motherland. Probably the best cache of the day was a multi that took us to the Beaufort Arsenal first. Construction of the Beaufort Arsenal was begun in 1795 and completed by 1799. The authorization by the state legislature in 1795 stated: "And be it further enacted, that General Barnwell, Thomas Grayson, and Ralph Elliott, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, and by virtue of this act, are fully authorized and empowered to purchase a lot or piece of land, and to erect and build thereon, at the old courthouse in the town of Beaufort, a magazine capable of containing a hundred thousand weight of gun powder and a thousand stand of arms, to enclose the same with a substantial brick wall;...." Construction was entrusted to Col. Thomas Talbird. The building had deteriorated substantially by 1852, when the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery Company rebuilt the complex "on the foundation of the old Arsenal a building capable of accommodating a garrison of 250 men and a battery of six guns." The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery was organized in April, 1775 and is the fifth oldest military unit in the United States. It has taken part in every war fought by this nation, including the Revolutionary War. For years it was housed in or connected with the Beaufort Arsenal. The building was enlarged and renovated in a 1934 WPA project. The Beaufort Museum occupied one of the wings and the National Guard occupied the main building. The city-owned Beaufort Museum now occupies the entire site. The two brass trophy guns in the yard were captured from the British in 1779 and seized by Union soldiers at the fall of Fort Walker in 1861. They were returned to Beaufort after 1880. Next stage took us to St. Helena's Episcopal Church which was one of the most beautiful churches we have seen in our travels. Unfortunately it was being renovated so there was scaffolding all around it. Founded 1712 as Parish Church of St. Helena, construction began in 1724. The early structure was rebuilt in 1769 and later extended to the west in 1817. In 1842, the church, except for west extension, was demolished down to ground level and new side walls extended the church to the north and south. During the Civil War, Federal troops dismantled the church and used it as a hospital, uprooting slabs from the graveyard for use as operating tables. The present altar was donated by the sailors of the U.S.S. New Hampshire, which was stationed here after the Civil War. The upper stages of the tower were added in 1942 and were designed by Albert Simons, AIA of Charleston, SC. One of the first persons to be buried in the churchyard was Colonel John Barnwell, better known as "Tuscarora Jack," who died in 1724. His grave, along with others, lies beneath the church. Two British officers, killed in a skirmish near Port Royal during the Revolution, were buried by Captain John Barnwell on the right side of the brick walk on the west side. Barnwell sent his sergeant into the church for a prayer book, read the burial service, and then said, "We have shown the British we not only can best them in battle, but that we can also give them a Christian burial." Also buried here are two Confederate Generals. Lt. General Richard H. Anderson and Brigadier General Stephen Elliott. Anderson was a West Pointer who resigned to serve the Confederacy and fought with the South Carolina Brigade at Williamsburg, Virginia. Elliott was Captain of the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and the Charleston Battalion. He was sent to Virginia, made a Brigadier General and was wounded while defending Petersburg. In the parish house grounds, north side, are the graves of persons who, because of death from dueling or suicide, were not allowed burial in hallowed ground. If you look carefully at the pictures of the church wall you will notice that a large semi-circular portion is slightly darker than the rest. This is were one of the Union cannonballs hit. When it was repaired different materials where used than in the original which gives it the darker appearance. The Union didn't hit the church, due to divine intervention or just their bad aim but who really knows?
One other thing we saw was the Frampton Plantation House. The "Frampton House" property was part of an original King's Grant to the Frampton family in the 1700s. In 1865, General Sherman's troops burned the plantation house and all the farm buildings that stood on this site. In 1868, John Frampton rebuilt the present charming Lowcountry farmhouse and continued to work the land. About 1930, major renovations were made to the old house that included adding indoor plumbing and electrical wiring, and applying the first thin sheetrock or dry wall, replacing the old lath and plaster walls. The preservation of the magnificent old oaks that frame the building and the Civil War earthworks in the backyard (erected by Robert E. Lee's troops in defense of the important railroad supply line for the Confederacy from Savannah to Charleston) were also guaranteed.
Then it was on back to the coach as we were both kind of tuckered out as we had done quite a bit of walking. We had dinner and retired early. Well unti next time we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick