From the east entrance to the Sea Pines forest Preserve you can see the ancient Shell Ring . The ring, one of only 20 in existence, is 150 feet (46 m) in diameter and is believed to be over 10,000 years old. Archeologists believe that the ring was a garbage heap, created by Native Americans that lived in the interior of the ring, which was kept clear and used as a common area. Two other shell rings on Hilton Head were destroyed when the shells were removed and used to make tabby for roads and buildings . The Shell Ring is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is protected by law .
Since the beginning of recorded history in the New World, the waters around Hilton Head Island have been known, occupied and fought for in turn by the Spanish, English , Scots and French
A Spanish expedition led by Francisco Cordillo explored the area in 1521 , initiating European contact with local tribes.
In 1663, Captain William Hilton sailed on the Adenture from Barbados to explore lands granted by King Charles II of England to the eight Lords Proprietor . In his travels, he identified a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound. He named it “Hilton’s Head” after himself. He stayed for several days, making note of thecrops, trees , “sweet air” and “sweet water”
In 1698, Hilton Head Island was granted as part of a barony to John Bayley of Ballingclough, County of Tipperary, Kingdom of Ireland. Another John Bayley, son of the first, appointed Alexander Trench as the island’s first retail agent. For a time, Hilton Head was known as Trench’s Island. In 1729, Trench sold some land to John Gascoine which Gascoine named “John’s Island” after himself. The land later came to be known as Jenkin’s Island after another owner.
In 1788, a small Episcopal church called the Zion Chapel of Ease was constructed for plantation owners . The old cemetery, situated near the corner of William Hilton Parkway and Mathews Drive (Folly Field), is all that remains. Charles Davant, a prominent island planter during the Revolutionary War, is buried there.
In 1781 he was shot by Captian Martinangel if Daufuskie Island . It is also home to the oldest intact structure on Hilton Head Island, the Baynard Mausoleum, which was built in 1846.
Free Relocation Packages for Hilton Head Island, SC
