The Sewee and Wando peoples inhabited this land that later became Laurel Hill Plantation. By 1694, Captain Robert Fenwick was granted much of the land that later formed the core of the plantation. Families including the Pateys, Boones, Hexts, and Rutledges also held portions of this property during the 18th century. Between 1833 and 1857, John Thomas Hamlin White purchased and combined several adjacent tracts into a single 1,735 acre plantation. Under his ownership, Laurel Hill was a diversified plantation where more than 120 enslaved men, women, and children labored to cultivate Sea Island cotton, raise livestock and crops, produce bricks, and ship plantation goods to regional and international markets. In 1864, Dr. Peter Bonneau, Confederate surgeon and signer of the Ordinance of Secession, purchased the plantation. During the final months of the Civil War, Union troops occupied Laurel Hill, emancipated enslaved laborers, and burned the plantation house. In 1874, prominent entrepreneurs, John S. and Frederick H. Horlbeck, purchased the plantation and incorporated the land into Boone Hall Plantation. Under the Horlbecks, Laurel Hill contributed land and resources to the enterprise, where agriculture, pecan orchards, and one of the Charleston area’s largest brick manufacturing operations functioned together. In January 1875, the Horlbecks subdivided about two-thirds of the original Phillips Tract that made up Laurel Hill Plantation. This subdivision established the core of what became known as the Phillips Community. In the 20th century, Laurel Hill was owned by John D. Muller, an avid preservationist. Upon his death in 1984, Muller instructed the trustees of the land to preserve it as “undeveloped beauty to those who may visit.” Charleston County Parks signed a 100-year lease in 2011. In 2015, Laurel Hill officially opened as a public park encompassing approximately 742 acres.
]]>On February 17, 2022, at the request of the Scanlonville community, an archaeological excavation was performed by Cultural Heritage Management International. The excavation successfully relocated a historic monument. This monument, as seen on the original 1870 plat labeled “cornerstone,” was moved to the Charleston Museum. The monument is a hollow cuboid column with a marble plaque inscribed "SCANLONVILLE, FEBRUARY 14TH, 1870”. A replica was made by Roger Major, Jr., a local brick mason, and with the help of local land surveyors, to ensure the accurate placement of the replica in the correct location, preserving the historical significance. The excavation yielded 233 artifacts spanning different historic periods, revealing insights into Colonial British occupation, the Prince family farmstead, and 20th-century uses by the College of Charleston. Despite the absence of Native American artifacts, the site's historical context, dating back to Native American groups, highlights Scanlonville's rich evolution. Scanlonville was one of the first African American communities formed in the Charleston area after the Civil War, designed and platted into half-acre town lots and two-acre farm lots. Established in 1870 by John Louis Scanlan (Scanlon); a former enslaved person and later a Freedman carpenter, along with 62 other Freedmen formed with the Charleston Land Company, and purchased the 614-acre property, formerly known as Remley Plantation. Scanlonville thrived through the 20th century. Some well-known spots in the community included Riverside Beach, White’s Paradise, Hunk’s Store, Chitter Chatter, Ms. Gussy and Jim Plu’s Store, Pinckney Airfield, and the Historic Scanlonville Cemetery. The community has changed with the addition of new subdivisions but has maintained its historic character. The monument's relocation signifies the community's resilience and ongoing commitment to preserving Scanlonville's history for future generations.
]]>Jim Capers was born into slavery on September 23, 1742, on William Capers' Bull Bay plantation in Christ Church Parish, South Carolina. On June 15, 1775, William Capers allowed Jim to enlist as a drum major in the 4th Regiment of the South Carolina Militia, commanded by Francis Marion. Although the South Carolina General Assembly never passed a law to allow the use of African American troops, many militia officers in the South Carolina Lowcountry used both free and enslaved men.
Regimental drummers like Jim Capers played important roles on the battlefield and faced the same dangers as other soldiers. They went into battle without a musket or rifle, subjecting themselves to great peril.
Capers fought in the Siege of Savannah, the Siege of Charles Town, and the battles of St. Helena, Port Royal Island, Georgetown, Camden, Biggin Church, and Eutaw Springs. At the Battle of Eutaw Springs, he received four wounds: two on his face, one on his head by a sword, and one in his side by a musket ball. Although his wounds were severe, he traveled with his regiment a month later to Yorktown, Virginia, where he was present for the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
Capers was discharged as a free man on October 1, 1782, having served for more than seven years. After the war, Capers moved to Alabama, seeking new opportunities in the west. He died in Pike County, Alabama on April 1, 1853, at the age of 110.
]]>In late summer 1706, a joint force of French and Spanish troops attacked the Lowcountry intent on driving English colonists from its shores in a quest for imperial dominance in North America. This attack led by Frenchman, Monsieur LeFebvre, was meant to be a surprise but was thwarted by a New York privateer, Peter Stool, who encountered the fleet in St. Augustine and raced to Charles Town with a warning. When the enemy fleet arrived, Charles Town stood ready in defense.
The main enemy force came ashore here at what was known then as “Dearsley’s Creek” named for Col. George Dearsley a prominent figure and shipbuilder. The French and Spanish privateers burned Dearsley’s storehouse along with two vessels as the site was home to what would become known as Hobcaw Shipyard. This proved to be the most damage inflicted by the enemy as men from all around the countryside, including French Huguenots from Santee, rallied to defend the Lowcountry in an early signal of unity arising from what was a difficult and discordant time.
]]>In late summer 1706, a combined force of French and Spanish troops attacked the South Carolina Lowcountry intent on vanquishing the fledgling English colony as Charles Town reeled from a plague of yellow fever. Intended to catch the colony off-guard and weakened by disease, the surprise was foiled when a privateer sloop ran into the fleet outside of St. Augustine and rushed back to Charles Town with a warning. When the enemy arrived, Charles Town was prepared, and the invading fleet was unable to force a surrender.
Near this site, a combined force of colonists and Native American allies under the commands of Captains Fenwick, Lynch, and Canty engaged the enemy in the open field. After exchanging volleys of fire, the enemy “quit the field and fled away in great disorder and confusion.” In this disoriented state, seven enemy combatants drowned in a creek while attempting to flee. Following a tumultuous beginning to the colony, this victory proved a moment of unity for the young colony of South Carolina as men from all around the surrounding countryside heeded the call to come in defense.
]]>Following the British attack on St. Augustine in 1702, a combined French and Spanish fleet moved to Charles Town, weakened by a yellow fever epidemic. On August 21, a ship arrived at the port city, warning of the arrival of the attacking fleet. The invaders gathered at the outer bar on August 25 and three days later made a demand for the surrender of the city.
After the surrender demand was rejected, on August 29, the French and Spanish privateers sent a small landing party ashore at Barksdale Plantation (present-day Old Village Mount Pleasant). The main attack group made landfall at Col. Dearsley's Creek (Hobcaw Creek), where they burned a storehouse and two vessels at Dearsley's Shipyard.
The next day, Governor Johnson ordered militia led by Capt. Fenwick, Capt. Lynch, and Capt. Canty east of the Cooper River to meet the attack. As the invaders attacked their way across the Wando Neck, they were pursued by the local militias. Everyone faced off to battle in a 150-acre open field at Hatchman's Plantation.
After suffering casualties, the French and Spanish troops retreated to their ships. Their fleet retreated on August 31. The French ship, Le Brilliante, moved to Sewee Bay to continue the attack. The ship was captured and captain taken prisoner. The Charles Town Vice Admiral William Rhett sailed victoriously into Charles Town aboard his prize, the Le Brilliante, along with local sloops Seaflower and the Flying-horse. It was a crushing defeat for the French and Spanish, with 230 men taken prisoner. These men were sent to Virginia and ordered dispersed among the British fleet to be sent to Britain for judgment under Queen Anne.
The main component of the French and Spanish forces were privateers who had been assembled and recruited from various ports such as Havana, having been offered the opportunity for adventure and potential fortune. Thus, once ashore, the privateers, without clear leadership, were disorganized and lacked a common goal. On the opposite side, stood Governor Nathaniel Johnson and Vice Admiral William Rhett who struck with surgical precision and with organized men eager to defend their land.
]]>Boone Hall Plantation, established in 1681 by a grant to Major John Boone, remained in the family for 130 years. The plantation, purchased by the Horlbeck family in 1817, produced primarily Sea Island cotton. A cotton gin, smokehouse, and 9 slave cabins, all built of brick made here, survive from the antebellum period. The present main house at Boone Hall was built for Thomas A. Stone in 1936.
]]>The Church Act of 1706 created Christ Church Parish. The first church, a wooden structure built in 1707, accidentally burned in 1725. A brick church was erected in 1726, and although the British burned it in 1782 and the interior was destroyed by Union Troops in 1865, the original walls still stand. In 1874, the church was restored and consecrated.
]]>In 1847, Charles Jugnot and Oliver Hillard, owners of Mount Pleasant Ferry Company, developed a picnic ground in a grove of live oaks, called Hort’s Grove. They built the first Alhambra as a summer retreat and dance hall overlooking Charleston Harbor. The present building was constructed in 1937 and is maintained by the town as a multipurpose recreational facility.
]]>Named by an Act of the General Assembly in honor of State Senate Arthur Ravenel, Jr., who enthusiastically spearheaded a broad-based effort to secure the funds for its construction Arthur Ravenel, Jr. was born in 1927, and is a Native of Charleston, US Marine, graduate of the College of Charleston, successful businessman, environmentalist, SC House of Representatives 1953-1958, SC Senate 1981-1986,US Congress 1987-1994, SC Senate 1999-2004.
]]>Brickyard Plantation is a portion of the vast Boone Hall Plantation. The soils that cover much of the tract contain dense red clay and sand making it suitable for brick production. In 1817, “a plantation with a Brick Yard established thereon called Boon Hall” was purchased by John and Henry Horlbeck. The brothers were partners in the construction industry having built several notable structures in Charleston such as the St John’s Lutheran Church and St. Stephen’s Chapel. The Horlbecks developed the brick yard into a major enterprise. From 1850 to 1860, twenty five million bricks were produced at a profit of $170,000. The brick yard operated throughout the nineteenth century and was later known as the Horlbeck Brick and Tile Company. The facility consisted of several kilns, workshops, drying areas, a brick lined cistern, a commissary, and a steam boiler. The boiler’s brick chimney stands today.
]]>In 1776, a force of British Army regulars attempted to cross Breach Inlet in an effort to capture Fort Sullivan (Fort Moultrie). Their advance was thwarted and many British lives lost when their boats were caught in treacherous currents while under fire from Colonel Thomson’s Eutawville sharpshooters who had erected a temporary fort near this spot overlooking Breach Inlet.
]]>In 1864, the Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley departed from Battery Marshall near this spot on Sullivan’s Island. It passed through Breach Inlet on assignment to sink the U.S.S. Housatonic. The Hunley crew signaled Battery Marshall that their mission was successful, but the submarine sank. The wreck of the H.L. Hunley and crew were recovered in 2000.
]]>On September 25, 1954, WUSN, the second television station in Charleston, signed onto the airwaves as a NBC affiliate. The call letters stood for U.S. Navy in an effort to gain a loyal following among Charleston Navy Yard personnel. Early local programs included The Lucky 2 Ranch, Time for Teens, and Afloat & Afield. In 1975, the call letters were changed to WCBD, a reference to the tri-county.
In 1954, Drayton Hastie, owner of WUSN, purchased Suzie Q, an Asian elephant, for $2,700 from a New York importer. A gimmick to lure viewers from WCSC, Suzie Q became WUSN’s mascot in residence sharing the grounds with an alligator, kangaroo, donkey, exotic birds, and other animals. This pachyderm packed pleasure and adventure in her trunk and imprinted indelible memories on the Lowcountry.
]]>In the 1700s, the King’s Highway began in Virginia and wound down the coast through the Carolinas. The section of road that passed through Mount Pleasant became one of the first coastal roadways serving as a colonial post road for the delivery of mail. President George Washington traveled this route in 1791 during his Southern tour. The road was later designated S.C. 40, then U.S. 17.
]]>In 1958, the section of U.S. 17 that passed through Mount Pleasant, also known as Old Georgetown Road, was named in honor of Mayor Francis F. Coleman (1946-1960). During his term in office, the road was widened, town limits extended, and the population grew from 1500 to 5000. He was also known for his dedication to improving the standard of living for all citizens of Mount Pleasant.
]]>The earthworks nearby are remains of the 1861 fortification built to defend Mount Pleasant. They extended east 2.5 miles from Butler’s Creek at Boone Hall Plantation to Fort Palmetto on Hamlin Sound. Supporting this line were Battery Gary and those at Hobcaw Point, Hog Island, Hibben Street, and Venning’s and Kinloch’s landings. Federal troops occupied the town 18 February 1865.
]]>This plantation cemetery predates the American Revolution. It was established by early members of the Hamlin, Hibben and Leland families. James Hibben (d. 1835), one of the founders of Mount Pleasant, is buried here. Generations of both white and black families are interred here. In 2003 this cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
]]>On August 8, 1929, a grand three day celebration and parade opened the first bridge to span Charleston Harbor. Built as a private toll bridge in 17 months for $6 million, it was a major link between Maine and Florida. With its steep inclines, dip, and sharp mid-way curve, the bridge was like a giant rollercoaster. In 1943, it was named to honor former Charleston Mayor John P. Grace. The state purchased the bridge in 1945 and removed the tolls.
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