After the Indian wars and the rise of the indigo market in South Carolina in the 1740s, Hilton Head Island became a growing settlement. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, about 25 families owned and worked plantations along the island’s northern and western shores. As the population grew south of the Broad River, so did the need for protection—militias formed, and fortifications were built to guard against Indian raiders, pirates, and Spanish invaders. Many of these settlers went on to fight in the Revolution, and several rose to national prominence in the years that followed.
Presented in partnership with the Beaufort County 250 Committee.
Richard Thomas is an owner and guide for Hilton Head History Tours and author of Backwater Frontier: Beaufort County, SC at the Forefront of American History.
