Digital Archives

Early Days

The native peoples of the Southeastern region were part of a sophisticated culture deeply connected to their natural environment, sustaining themselves through farming, hunting, and gathering. During the Late Archaic period, spanning from 5800 to 3200 B.P, indigenous cultures established a significant physical presence along the coast in the form of shell rings.

Archaic shell rings are large, semi-circular mounds created by native inhabitants who harvested oysters and other seafood based on seasonal availability.  Once eaten they purposefully deposited the oyster shells gradually building the circular mounds. On Hilton Head Island, visitors can explore a shell ring archaeologists believe was developed over a 300-year period.

Archaeologists have found no conclusive evidence that these ancient indigenous people resided within the rings. Instead, they propose that these shell rings served as important ceremonial areas and community gathering spaces. The careful construction and sustained effort required to create these massive structures suggest a sophisticated level of social organization and collective purpose.

These shell rings are now recognized as some of the most substantial and impressive public works projects in pre-colonial North America, providing critical insights into the complex cultural practices of Southeastern indigenous societies. They stand as enduring archaeological monuments that illuminate the rich cultural landscape of Native American communities long before European contact.

While our understanding of these early inhabitants remains limited, archaeological excavations have gradually revealed insights into their way of life. Archaeologists have uncovered a range of artifacts, including shells, bones, tools, and ceramic fragments, that provide glimpses into the material culture of these indigenous societies.

Recent archaeological findings have documented indigenous settlements dating back to at least 1450 CE, contemporaneous with the indigenous populations encountered by European explorers and settlers when they first arrived in South Carolina. These discoveries continue to expand our understanding of the rich and complex societies that existed in the region long before European contact.

Yamassee Indians

When Europeans first arrived in the Southeastern region, they encountered a diverse array of indigenous ethnic groups. The devastating impact of colonialism was swift and profound, resulting in the systematic extermination or forced merging of many native tribes. Tragically, little scholarly attention was initially devoted to documenting these cultures, leading to the loss of numerous tribal names, languages, and historical narratives.

In the seventeenth century, South Carolina and Georgia became home to approximately 1,200 Yemassee Indians—a complex confederation formed by the merging of multiple indigenous groups including the Guale, La Tama, Apalachee, Coweta, and Cusseta Creek. Their migration was driven by a desperate attempt to escape Spanish missionaries in Florida who were actively enslaving native peoples to provide labor in the West Indies.

The Yamassee initially sought to establish diplomatic and economic relationships with European settlers in South Carolina and Georgia through trade and attempts at cultural exchange. However, these efforts ultimately failed, culminating in the Yamassee War of 1715. This conflict resulted in the tribe being pushed back to Florida, marking another devastating chapter in the region’s colonial history of indigenous displacement and cultural disruption.

These events underscore the profound and often brutal transformation of indigenous societies during the early period of European colonization, highlighting the complex interactions and power dynamics that fundamentally reshaped the demographic and cultural landscape of the Southeastern United States. The land left behind was now available for occupation and expansion of the colonists aiding in the development of the plantation system.

Plantations & Slavery

The Lowcountry’s plantation history spans three distinct eras: the antebellum agricultural period, the post-Reconstruction hunting lodge period, and the modern development of gated communities that often adopt plantation names. During the colonial and antebellum periods, plantations transformed vast tracts of land into agricultural enterprises, with their economic model dependent on enslaved labor. Slavery arrived in America in 1619, when 20–30 enslaved Africans were brought by the privateer ship, White Lion, to Point Comfort, Virginia.

Around 1728, a number of plantations flourished in the coastal region between Charleston and Savannah. The interconnected waterways provided essential transportation routes, especially given the challenges of constructing roads in the sandy coastal soil. The Lowcountry’s geography was particularly suited to the cultivation of Sea Island cotton, indigo, and rice, which were primarily exported through Savannah. These plantations also produced subsistence crops like corn, beans, and sweet potatoes to feed both the planter families and the enslaved people who performed the labor.

The area that would become Bluffton emerged as a strategic location for plantation owners. They constructed summer homes along the May River, seeking relief from the coastal plantations’ humid conditions as well as increased danger of coming into contact with common diseases of the late eighteenth century. The river breezes and pine forests were believed to offer protection from malaria and yellow fever. While some planters visited their holdings daily, many employed overseers to manage operations and supervise the enslaved workers.  Enslaved were also brought to work in Bluffton. The practice of bringing enslaved people into town is documented at sites like the Heyward House, where two original enslaved workers’ dwellings remain standing, testifying to the urban presence of slavery.

The American Revolution brought destruction to many original plantations by British forces, but the plantation system quickly rebuilt. These properties frequently changed ownership, underwent divisions, or merged with other holdings. Throughout these changes, the constant factor was the region’s dependence on enslaved labor for agricultural production and infrastructure development.  The agricultural plantation system would remain in place until the Civil War brought it to an end.

Known plantations in and near Bluffton 

• Devil’s Elbow Barony (broken into smaller holdings)
• Rose Hill
• Hunting Island
• Oak Forest
• Camp
• Foot Point
• Crescent
• Buckingham
• Calhoun (Porcher)
• Barnwell - Belfair
• Hog Bluff
• Tipperary
• Bull Hill
• Trimblestone
• Oakland
• Pinckney Island
• Rephraim
• Montpelier
• Octagon
• Moreland (Coles Family)
• Spring Island
• Running Deer Plantation
• Rose Dew
• Hilton Head (pre-1861): Braddock Point, Calibogue, Point Comfort, Possum Point, Shipyard, Leamington, Chaplin, Mathews, Otter Hole, Muddy Creek, Spanish Wells, Coggins Point, Brass?, Cherry Hill, Fish Haul, Cotton Hope, Honey, Fairfield, Sea Brook, Myrtle Bank

Slavery in Bluffton

Historical research on plantations and slavery in the South faces significant challenges. Limited documentation, deliberately enforced illiteracy among enslaved people, and incomplete plantation records have obscured a comprehensive understanding. Existing resources often reflect biased narratives that perpetuated harmful stereotypes. Despite these challenges, primary documentation from the era gives us a window into the practice of slavery in the Lowcountry. 

Newspaper advertisements from the era provide some insights into plantation management. These ads frequently sought overseers—typically white men—responsible for directing enslaved labor. On larger plantations, both an overseer and a “driver” (the title given to a Black man promoted by the plantation owner) might be employed. The advertisements often described plantation types like “swamp river plantation” without specifying exact locations, and a description of the work they would be directing.

Figures 1, 2, 3 - Illustrations used to depict runaway slaves. From, The Royal Georgia Gazette, (Savannah, Georgia), July 23, 1795. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

Notices seeking the capture of enslaved individuals were prevalent in the south including the Royal Georgia Gazette, a newspaper published in Savannah, Georgia. These advertisements, placed by enslavers, gave descriptions of enslaved people who had escaped from plantations across Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The notices sought information about their whereabouts and warned potential helpers of legal consequences for assisting those seeking freedom.

An example from region, appears in a January 3, 1781 advertisement searching for an enslaved woman named Mary, who is described as having previously been “owned by Thomas Jones” from the May River region of South Carolina. Such advertisements reveal the brutal realities of the chattel slavery system, which treated human beings as property to be tracked, recovered, and returned against their will.

Figure 4 – Notice from The Royal Georgia Gazette, (Savannah, Georgia), January 4, 1781. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

In Bluffton, few remnants of the plantation era remain. Some structures that escaped the burning of Bluffton have survived, including the Cole-Heyward House, now a house museum. Built around 1840 by enslaved workers of John Cole, the property’s slave quarters at the rear are reportedly the last such structures in Bluffton. Most likely the surviving buildings from before the antebellum period were built using enslaved labor and therefore stand as a testament to those men and women.

Before the Bridge – Race Riot of 1913

Tensions gripped the United States at the dawn of the 20th century. With the world teetering on the precipice of World War, Jim Crow laws firmly entrenched across the South, and a heated national debate over prohibition gaining momentum, 1913 presented the perfect conditions for conflict to erupt in the Lowcountry. That year, growing disquiet permeating the region would culminate in a near lynching and riot. Beneath the Spanish moss and between the tidal marshes of Beaufort County, a deadly game unfolded between lawmen and the shadowy operators of illicit drinking establishments known locally as “blind tigers.”

For years these illegal bars had thrived in defiance of growing prohibition sentiment. While fifteen South Carolina counties had surrendered to temperance, six holdouts—Beaufort County among them—defended their legal dispensaries with practical arguments: without alcohol revenue, who would fund the roads, bridges, and the newly emerging electric lights and waterworks? Most critically, they claimed, education funds would plummet from $26,000 to a mere $14,000. Yet beyond these sanctioned establishments lurked the blind tigers, particularly brazen in Beaufort’s rural reaches. The Edgefield Advertiser sounded the alarm that April: 

“So bold and flagrantly lawless have blind tigers become that the citizenship of that county is greatly alarmed.... Senator Christensen says these blind tigers, after obtaining a supply from the dispensary, go into the country districts where there is no police protection, and sell day and night to men, women and children.”

The situation reached a flash point when Secretary of the Navy Daniels issued an ultimatum—either suppress these blind tigers or forget expanding the naval detention barracks at Port Royal. His warning echoed through county offices: “Plans to enlarge the naval detention barracks, at Port Royal, S.C., will be abandoned unless the State authorities suppress the ‘blind tigers’ on which the navy department has had complaint.”

This mandate unleashed a crackdown that sought to identify and close illegal establishments. Specially mandated investigators along with Black constables were dispatched to locate and shut down ‘blind tigers’.

Tensions in the region were already heightened months earlier when a Dispensary Constable was shot and killed on St. Helena Island by two Black men believed to have been involved with an illegal dispensary. The shooting instantly birthed a lynching posse that traveled toward Beaufort, determined to seize the arrested suspects from official custody. Only Sheriff White’s quick actions saved lives that day by distracting the mob with troops guarding an empty jail while the prisoners were transported to an undisclosed location.  Davis Reynolds and Jasper Green, would have their day in court nearly half a year later where they were convicted of the murder of J. R.Cooler and sentenced to death by electrocution. 

Months later in June, Sheriff White would again stand between order and chaos—this time in Bluffton, where a young woman’s cry after allegedly being grabbed around the neck by a Black man had launched a countywide manhunt. By a cruel twist of fate, State Constable E. Frank Hammond and Jesse Lawrence, a Black constable, were searching Bluffton that very day for “negro blind tigers.” As panic spread, suspicion fell on Constable Lawrence. A mob quickly formed outside J.S. Graves’ store where Lawrence had sought refuge. Hammond attempted to reason with the crowd pressing against the front entrance. Lawrence, making a desperate calculation and believing that the crowd intended to lynch him—not confident that Hammond could keep the mob at bay—chose the slim chance of escape over certain violence. He jumped from the second-story window at the rear of the building. On the way down, he struck and severed Bluffton’s solitary telephone line, which added to the chaos.

The following day brought deeper tragedy. Hammond, spotting a man named William Jackson and believing he was responsible for the assault, attempted an arrest. When Jackson resisted and fled, Hammond fired a shot that struck Jackson in the head, killing him instantly. When they brought the body before the young woman, she declared with certainty: this was not her attacker.

Anger at injustice and fear of retribution coursed through the community. The mayor’s desperate telegram reached Governor Blease: “The mayor and some citizens here think negroes are arming themselves and will make trouble and request that I ask for Beaufort militia to protect whites and property. Phone connections only to Bluffton and wires may be cut.” Governor Blease answered the request and dispatched Beaufort’s militia under Sheriff White’s command.  Sheriff White was again successful in deterring further violence. 

For William Jackson, there would be no justice. The coroner’s jury deliberated briefly before issuing their verdict: “We find that William Jackson came to his death by a gunshot wound at the hands of E.F. Hammond, State Constable, in the discharge of his duty.” Signed, sealed, forgotten. Though accusations would later touch several men for the original assault, historical records suggest the woman’s actual attacker vanished into the Lowcountry, leaving behind only questions.

Figure 13 -  “Quick Action Quells Race Riot in Bluffton.” The Columbia Record (Columbia, SC), June 12, 1913. Newspapers by Ancestry. https://www.newspapers.com/image/744549267/

Civil Rights Era

During the Reconstruction era, the Gullah community in Bluffton experienced initial successes. However, as African Americans began to assert their newfound freedoms, Southern states responded by implementing Jim Crow laws designed to restrict their rights. While these laws were most severe in the South, discrimination became a pervasive national issue extending from the late 19th century well into the 20th century.

The 20th century was fundamentally defined by the struggle for racial equality, with the Lowcountry serving as a microcosm of this broader national movement. Bluffton of the 1950s and 60s presented a complex social landscape that defied simple characterization. As described in the book Bluffton Charge: One Preachers Struggle for Civil Rights, “the town maintained a carefully curated public image. Racial tensions were carefully suppressed, with town matters handled discretely to preserve an idealized perception of Southern civility. Outsiders were often reassured about the town’s supposedly harmonious race relations.”

The reality, however, was far more nuanced. Bluffton existed as two divergent narratives simultaneously. On one side was an idyllic portrayal of a rural Southern town—with oyster-shell streets lined by majestic live oaks, abundant with local wildlife and seafood, and attractive to tourists and retirees seeking a leisurely lifestyle. This romanticized image starkly contrasted with the harsh economic realities faced by many African American residents of Beaufort County.

The alternative narrative revealed extreme poverty. Families lived in substandard housing—dilapidated shacks lacking basic amenities like electricity, clean water, and proper sanitation. These living conditions starkly illustrated the deep-seated economic and social inequalities that persisted long after emancipation.

During the Civil Rights era, efforts to enact change in Bluffton brought these competing narratives into sharp focus. The town embodied the tension between carefully maintained appearances and the underlying systemic inequalities that characterized much of the American South during this period.

The Fight for Equality - Dr. Gatch

Bluffton stood out from many towns across the United States due to its unique residential pattern. Unlike other communities that enforced strict racial segregation, Black and white residents in Bluffton lived intermixed, with homes of white and Black families situated side by side on the same streets. Historians attribute this unusual living arrangement to the area’s plantation-era history, where slave and servant quarters were originally constructed near the primary residences of planter families.

While other cities experienced significant white flight to suburban areas as a means of maintaining racial separation, Bluffton’s distinctive geographical terrain made such mass relocation challenging. The physical landscape of the region effectively prevented the widespread suburban migration that characterized racial segregation patterns in many other American towns during the mid-20th century. 

Despite the unusual residential integration, significant racial inequality persisted in Beaufort County and Bluffton. Systemic discrimination was evident across multiple critical domains of life, including employment opportunities, healthcare access, educational resources, and social welfare services available to the Gullah. These disparities reflected the broader patterns of structural racism that limited economic and social mobility for Black residents, even within a community that appeared more physically integrated than many other Southern towns.

Figure 14 - R.S. Pious. “Moving Ahead, Despite all obstacles.” May 21, 1953, illustration, Savannah Tribune. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://www.loc.gov.

National media coverage, including a New York Times article titled “Hunger in America: Stark Deprivation Haunts a Land of Plenty,” brought the dire living conditions of Bluffton’s African American community into the spotlight. The article vividly described ramshackle shanties with broken windows and newspaper-lined walls serving as the only barrier against the elements, many structures so dilapidated they were on the verge of collapse.

These homes were inhabited by families struggling with extreme poverty, subsisting on meager diets often of little more than grits and rice. The harsh living conditions were compounded by poor sanitation and limited access to clean water, creating a breeding ground for serious health problems. Both children and adults suffered from preventable medical conditions, including rickets and parasitic infections, which were direct consequences of malnutrition and unsanitary living environments.

Dr. Gatch, a native of McGrew, Nebraska, arrived in Bluffton around 1958 to establish a medical office serving Savannah, Bluffton, and Beaufort. His office was unique for its time, featuring a single, integrated waiting room. “It never occurred to me to segregate the sick,” Dr. Gatch said. “The white folks around here have never forgotten it. The negroes didn’t either.”

Trusted by the local Gullah community, Dr. Gatch made house calls and was deeply troubled by widespread malnutrition. In 1969, he traveled to Columbia to speak before a citizens’ inquiry investigating hunger and poverty, describing dire conditions and reporting deaths from starvation. His remarks were vehemently disputed by Beaufort County officials. Dr. H. Parker, the County Health Officer, denied Dr. Gatch’s claims, stating he had never seen a case of starvation or extreme malnutrition. Many health officials branded Dr. Gatch a liar, and Beaufort Memorial Hospital staff demanded his resignation, subjecting him to threatening phone calls and public ridicule.

This harassment galvanized the Gullah community. They formed the Grassroots Rehabilitation Involvement Program (GRIP) and initiated a boycott, encouraging locals to shop outside the city center or county. Their goals were to reinstate Dr. Gatch and demand improvements in employment, housing, education, and welfare for Black residents.

Dr. Gatch persisted in his practice and advocacy despite losing many white patients and the support of the local medical community. 

His efforts eventually won over Wilton Graves, a fifty-two-year-old motel operator and county legislative representative. After a tour exposing the extreme conditions, Graves admitted, “I thought I knew what poverty was but I never saw anything like this. I honestly did not know conditions like these existed in Beaufort County.” This experience led Graves and his team to meet with GRIP, becoming the first local authority willing to engage directly with the organization. While Dr. Gatch was working toward medical reform in Bluffton, others were pursuing equality through different avenues, including efforts to desegregate the school system.