Daufuskie Island is a 5 x 2.5 mile-long island located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah.
This small island—only accessible by boat—is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. You might not expect this quiet and relaxed island to have the colorful, storied past that it does.
For thousands of years, indigenous Muskogean Indians called Daufuskie Island home. The word “Daufuskie” comes from the Muscogee language and means “sharp feather,” due to the Island’s distinctive shape. In the mid-1500s, Spanish explorers had begun colonization of the Southeastern Coast of the United States, followed by the French and English. Spanish settlers introduced their Iberian horses to the area during this period. Descendants of these horses, known as Carolina Marsh Tackies, live on the Island to this day.
In the late 1600s, the Spanish enlisted native warriors to challenge a growing number of European settlements. These clashes culminated in the Yamasee Uprising, three brutal battles between 1715-1717 on the southwestern shore of Daufuskie. The Yamasee Uprising is credited with the area’s present-day name: Bloody Point.
The quest for religious freedom brought the great grandson of French Huguenot David Mongin and the daughter of Italian Prince Filippo de Martinangelo to the Island.
Shipbuilders prized Daufuskie’s vast quantities of live-oak trees for their strength, resistance to rot and naturally curved limbs. Oak harvested on the Island made The USS Constitution “Old Ironsides.”
Prior to the Civil War, Daufuskie boasted 11 plantations with several large tabby mansions and a large slave population.
Early during the Civil War, the Union naval fleet took command of all Beaufort-area islands, causing plantation owners to flee their property and leave their slaves behind. After the war, Daufuskie’s remoteness allowed the Gullah language and culture to survive and flourish for generations.
In 1873, the Haig Point Rear Range Light and in 1883, the Bloody Point Front Range Lights were built to assist ships approaching the Savannah River entrance. During this time, the oyster industry flourished. By the turn of the century, the Island had a population of approximately 3,000, mostly working in the shellfish trade.
The pollution from the Savannah River eventually forced the closing of the oyster industry in the 1950s. Electricity arrived in 1953 and telephones in 1972.
The population shrank to less than 100 until developers planned Haig Point, Melrose, Bloody Point and Oakridge in the 1980s. A census in 2007 indicated that there were 429 residents on the Island.
Daufuskie Island has a rich legacy of Gullah history. Thanks to the Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation’s restoration efforts, the Island’s identity and culture should continue.
Sources: Wikipedia/Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation
