Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is long by almost wide – approximate surface area of (5,000 acres). With over of beachfront, Daufuskie is surrounded by the waters of Calibogue Sound, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. It was listed as a census-designated place in the 2020 census with a population of 557.
Accessible only by ferry or barge, and with a full-time population of just over 400, Daufuskie Island contains environmental preserves, private communities, resorts, Gullah houses, diverse art galleries and history. The island was named a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places due to its Gullah and Civil War history. The island is also the setting of Pat Conroy's memoir The Water Is Wide recounting Conroy's experiences teaching on Daufuskie in the late 1960s.
History Daufuskie Island has been inhabited for thousands of years, as evidenced by ancient piles of discarded oyster shells exhibiting pottery shards from all phases of the hunter-gathering period.An Archeological Reconnaissance Survey of the Haig Point, Webb, and Oak Ridge Tracts, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina , James L. Michie, (1983) Research Manuscript Series, Book 179 Prior to European arrival numerous Indian tribes inhabited the Lowcountry and islands. Culturally and linguistically these tribes were of Muskogean stock.Rowland, Lawrence S.; Moore, Alexander; Rodgers, George C.: The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina; Volume 1, 1514-1861 (1996) USC Press, p. 12 Daufuskie comes from the Muscogee language and means "sharp feather", for the island's distinctive shape.Burn, Billie, An Island Named Daufuskie (1991). Billie Burn Books, p. 3
As early as 1523, Spanish explorers were sailing the southeastern coast of North America in search of potential settlements.Lyon, Eugene, The Enterprise of Florida: Pedro Menendez de Aviles and Spanish Conquest of 1565-1568 (1974). University Press of Florida, p. 6 By 1565, the Spanish had settled in St. Augustine, Florida, and were pushing up the coast establishing and maintaining additional colonies. Concurrent with these 16th-century ambitions for settlement, the French also made attempts at colonization in South Carolina Lowcountry areas. By the mid-1600s the English began to explore the southern coast. Prosperous Caribbean planters sponsored several expeditions to South Carolina. Captain William Hilton and Robert Sandford both made voyages to Port Royal Sound and vicinity. In July 1666 Sandford entered Calibogue Sound between Hilton Head and Daufuskie.Rowland, Moore, Rodgers, p. 11
It was during this period of early exploration that Spanish settlers introduced their distinctive Iberian horses to the Southeastern coast. Today the descendants of these horses are known as "Carolina Marsh Tacky". These sturdy, intelligent horses are particularly well adapted to the swampy and marshy lowcountry region. Examples of this rare breed can still be found on Daufuskie.
In 1684, Spanish soldiers enlisted the help of native warriors to fight Scottish settlers in Port Royal, and thus began the uneasy and difficult history of native entanglement in European settlement history. The inevitable clash of cultures culminated with the so-called Yamasee uprising that consisted of three brutal battles on the southwestern shore of Daufuskie Island between 1715 and 1717 that gave this piece of land the name it still bears today, Bloody Point.Rowland, Moore, Rodgers, p. 98
The quest for religious freedom ultimately brought two European families to Daufuskie Island—the great-grandson of French Huguenot David Mongin, and the daughter of Italian Prince Filippo de Martinangelo who escaped the Inquisition.Burn, Chap. 3: The Mongins and the Martinangeles The story of these two founding families is intertwined throughout their long history, and both rose to become powerful island plantation owners.
The American Revolution brought divided loyalties to the lowcountry. Daufuskie received the nickname "Little Bermuda" during the Revolution due to the residents' Loyalist sentiments.Rowland, Moore, Rodgers, p. 239 After the Revolution, Daufuskie thrived with the introduction of world-famous sea island cotton, a variety prized by European mills. High quality, sea island cotton exceeded all other long-staple cottons in fiber length, as well as fineness and strength.Porcher, Richard Dwight, and Fick, Sarah, The Story of Sea Island Cotton (2005). Gibbs Smith, p. 54 It was during this period of strong economic growth that several large plantation mansions were constructed.
The building of American wooden tall ships triggered the demand for timber from live oak trees abundant on Daufuskie. This hardwood species, unique to the southeastern coast, was prized by shipbuilders for its strength and resistance to rot, as well as its naturally curved limbs. Daufuskie was in the center of the "live oaking" trade crucial to the development of US maritime power. Shipwrights traveled to Daufuskie and the lowcountry to fell the oaks, hew them, and lug the pieces by oxen to coastal landings. The USS Constitution—"Old Ironsides"—was constructed with live oak.Wood, Virginia Steele. Live Oaking: Southern Timber for Tall Ships (1981). Naval Institute Press
Prior to the Civil War, there were eleven plantations on Daufuskie.Burn, p. 77 Large homes were constructed on several of these tracts – Oakley Hall at Bloody Point, Melrose, and Haig Point. The mansion at Haig Point was unique as it was built of tabby. It was the largest tabby domestic building erected in coastal South Carolina.Haig Point Tabby Ruins, Haig Point Road, Daufuskie Landing, Beaufort County, SC Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C., HABS SC-867
Introduced in the southeast by early Spanish settlers, tabby is a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells.Burn, p. 66 Three of the best-preserved, tabby-walled single slave dwellings still standing in Beaufort County can be found today at Haig Point.Haig Point Tabby Ruins, Haig Point Road, Daufuskie Landing, Beaufort County, SC
Early in the Civil War, Union forces occupied the Beaufort-area islands. Union troops on Daufuskie supported the siege and reduction of Fort Pulaski protecting the Savannah River entrance. This Union presence caused white plantation owners to flee, leaving property and slaves behind. After the war, Daufuskie's remoteness allowed Gullah culture to survive and flourish through the generations.
The Gullah language is a legacy of the original slaves and later laborers who remained once the plantations folded. The lowcountry was remote until the mid-20th century, but the isolation of Daufuskie created the perfect climate for the language and manners of the Gullah people to remain remarkably well preserved. The local dialect is heavily influenced by West African languages and rural English. Daufuskie is in the center of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor National Park Service, US Department of Interior
Following the Civil War the farming, mining, and timber industries were re-established in Beaufort County and the lowcountry.Wise, Stephen R.; Rowland, Lawrence S.; Spieler, Gerhard: Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861-1893, The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 2 (2015). USC Press, p. 520 This activity meant the waterways around Daufuskie, with its critical position between Port Royal and Savannah, became very busy. Navigation aids became necessary to support the increased volume of shipping. In 1873 the Haig Point Range Lights were constructed on the island's northern end. This was followed by the Bloody Point Range Lights in 1883 built to assist ships approaching the Savannah River entrance.Burn, Chap. 6: Lighthouses
From the 1880s the oyster industry flourished on Daufuskie. By the turn of the century the island had a population of 2,000-3,000, most of whom worked in this lucrative shellfish trade.Burn, Chap. 14: The Oyster Industry The flat coastline, saltmarsh estuary, and natural oyster reefs, combined with a lengthy spawning season, make waters surrounding Daufuskie the perfect habitat for growing abundant clusters of meaty, briny oysters. Daufuskie oysters were known as far away as Bar Harbor and New York. It is reported that the Tsar of Russia preferred Daufuskie oysters.Conroy Country , Atlanta, Allison Entrekin, October 10, 2016
Eventually, in the 1950s, pollution closed the oyster beds and the island's economy declined.Burn, p.441 Electricity came to the island in 1953 and telephones in 1972; however, with few opportunities for work, the population shrank to less than a hundred people, leaving a legacy of rich Gullah history. In the 1980s developers started making plans to make Daufuskie Island a residential development destination, and the planned developments of Bloody Point, Melrose, Haig Point, and Oakridge were born. Despite this progress and development, the island's historic district has remained untouched to preserve the Gullah culture, and today the entire island is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Industry
The island's shoreline and tidal range are conducive to the lengthy spawning season of oysters. On the island, the oysters grow in clusters rather than individually. The natives of the island valued the natural abundance of oysters. Massive mounds of shucked oyster shells found on the island stand as testament to the extensive use of oysters on the island by its native residents. Native Americans used the meat of the oysters as food and used shells to fashion tools, fertilizers, and tabby. The oyster industry began on Daufuskie Island in the 1880s, when an Italian immigrant named Luigi Paolo Maggioni leased oyster beds and opened a raw shuck oyster house. Later in 1893, he opened the L.P. Maggioni and Company Oyster Factory. The factory harvested, shucked, steamed, and canned oysters to ship to Savannah. The success of the company brought several others to the island. Several shucking shacks and factories remained on the island after the L.P. Maggioni Company moved to Savannah, Georgia. The oyster industry flourished as people as far away as Bar Harbor and New York considered Daufuskie Island oysters a delicacy. “Daufuski” brand oysters with the distinctive Indian chief label were shipped worldwide, reportedly even enjoyed by Tsar Nicolas II of Russia. The 1930s depression and World War II caused the oyster industry to decline as many left the island for better job opportunities. The industry faced more setbacks as pollution from the Savannah River in the 1950s contaminated the island oyster beds. New wage and hour laws increased labor costs, resulting in the cannery closing after the 1986 spring season. Fortunately, mom-and-pop shops continue to sell oysters on the island.
Locations The island is now split into five parts.
To the northeast is the Haig Point Club, a private, member-owned residential club with around 150 year-round residents and over 225 homes.
South of Haig Point was the Melrose Resort and residential community. Farther south on the eastern side of the island is Oak Ridge, a small undeveloped oceanfront community, followed by Bloody Point, a semi-private residential community.
Melrose Resort remains in disrepair as of April 2019, and the former owner faces charges for using resort money to pay for his own expenses.