Isle of Palms SC History and Culture

Rich American History Make For Lavish Isle of Palms Real Estate

Isle of Palms SC's Earliest History
The first known inhabitants of the densely forested barrier island that hugs the coastline a few miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, were the Seewee Indians, whose reign over the Charleston area dates back some 2,000 years. Alive with wildlife and thought to be a favorite hunting ground of the Seewees, the Isle of Palms was originally dubbed Hunting Island. When the first English settlers founded Charles Towne in 1670 along the banks of the Ashley River, the Seewees established a lively trade relationship with the newcomers, offering them their skillfully crafted pottery and woodworking.

War Stories on The Isle of Palms SC
In 1696, the King of England granted title to the Isle of Palms (referred to then as Long Island) to Thomas Holton, a settler from Barbados. The Isle of Palms remained virtually unknown until the mid-18th century and the onset of the Revolutionary War. During that war, a British army contingent of some 2,500 men launched an attack from the shores of Long Island against a colonial encampment on adjacent Sullivan’s Island. Their effort failed, as many British soldiers drowned in the treacherous waters of Breach Inlet, which flows between the two islands. This decisive defeat of the British Amery at the battle of Sullivan’s Island at Fort Moultrie marked the first Patriot victory of the war.

Nearly a century later, Breach Inlet made history again as the point of departure for the H. L. Hunley, the first submarine in world history to sink an enemy vessel. On the night of February 17, 1864, eight men loyal to the Confederacy led by Lt. George Dixon rammed the Hunley’s spar torpedo into the hull of the USS Housatonic, successfully sinking the Union ship. After signally their triumph, the Hunley crew never returned to shore. Lost at sea for over a century, the Hunley was located in 1995 and raised on August 8, 2000.

Resort Roots on The Isle of Palms SC
The Isle of Palms real estate market was nonexistent and remained without permanent residents until the late 19th century, when the island became popular as a summer getaway for Charleston residents and owners of Charleston SC real estate. The first permanent home was built on the island in 1898 by Nicholas Sottile, who was forced to secure the services of a rowboat captain to ferry him across Breach Inlet from Sullivan’s Island to the secluded island.

Purchased in 1899 by J. S. Lawrence, who renamed it the Isle of Palms, the Isle of Palms SC real estate market soon embarked on its first golden era of development that stretched well into the 20th century. In 1906, the Hotel Seashore, a 50-room resort, was built and was soon followed by a spacious beach pavilion and amusement park featuring a Ferris wheel. Slowly transportation to the island improved. By 1946 when developer J.C. Long purchased much of the island and what then existed of Isle of Palms real estate, a bridge had been constructed to link the Isle of Palms to its closest neighbor, Sullivan’s Island.

Premier Lifestyle For Owners of Isle of Palms SC Real Estate
With a vision of maintaining the charm and natural beauty of the Isle of Palms, J. C. Long slowly grew the Isle of Palms into the Charleston SC real estate market as the premier residential bedroom community. Then in the 1970s, the rest of the world discovered the island, sending Isle of Palms real estate soaring.

By 1975, the Sea Pines Company, one of the major developers of Hilton Head Island, devised a plan to build a resort on the 900 acres of land on the northeastern tip of the Isle of Palms. Originally called the Isle of Palms Beach and Racquet Club, the resort was later renamed the Wild Dunes Beach and Racquet Club, or simply Wild Dunes. With its nationally recognized golf courses and its superb tennis facilities, Wild Dunes soon became a world- renowned vacation destination and the most coveted of properites among the Isle of Palms SC real estate market.

Today, the Isle of Palms real estate remains a star in the Lowcountry’s varying assortment of notable lifestyles. With a highly educated population, a virtually non-existent violent crime rate and its close proximity to the regions economic hub in Charleston, South Carolina, the Isle of Palms SC is an ideal place to live and work, raise a family, or to enjoy an active retirement.