what’s in a name ?

THE HISTORY BEHIND SOME OF THE AREA’S FAVORITE LOCATIONS

Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the rest of the Lowcountry have a rich history. Through the years the names of some of our favorite spots have been become so familiar that we rarely stop to think about the origins.

But the stories behind the names are certainly worth exploring. With help from The Heritage Library, which is an invaluable resource for Hilton Head history, and other sources, here’s a look at some of the background behind early place names.

BRAM’S POINT

William Gerhard DeBrahm, German surveyor-cartographer, interim Surveyor General of South Carolina, Surveyor General of the Southern District of North America, presented his two-volume report to King George III in 1773. Entitled “Report of the General Survey of the Southern District of North America,” it was the first scientific survey of present-day South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The point of land between Calibogue Sound and Broad Creek honors his memory.

Buck Island

Off the tip of Bram’s Point between Broad Creek and Calibogue Sound lies a small island, inaccessible at high tide. As a refuge for the white tail deer, it acquired the name Buck Island. Bram’s Point was called Buck Point.

Calibogue Sound

The deep channel between Hilton Head and Daufuskie Islands has long been known as Calibogue Sound. The word “calibogue” is much like the Creek Indian word for “deep spring.” It has variously been spelled Calibogie and Caleboco, probably referring to the fresh water spring or well on the bluff overlooking the Sound.

Dolphin Head

The promontory in Elliott’s Myrtle Bank Plantation overlooking Port Royal Sound has long been designated Dolphin Head, honoring the dolphin who continue to abound in the sound. An early cartographer designated it Balinclough Head.

Jarvis Creek

Jarvis does not have known antecedents or descendants. Yet tradition insists that “a man named Jarvis” was found dead on a small island in Crooked Creek, which runs along the northern boundary of Honey Horn Plantation and empties into Calibogue Sound. Ever since, Crooked Creek has been Jarvis Creek.

Pinckney Island

Colonel Mackey bought the island closest to the northwest corner of Hilton Head and the water between it and the main island became known as Mackey’s Creek. The small island was known as Mackey’s Island until it became Pinckney’s Island. In 1734 Col. Charles Pinckney acquired the island, and in 1758 his son, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, inherited the three plantations on the island — Old Place, Crescent and The Place — where Sea Island cotton was raised. In 1818 President James Monroe was entertained there. In 1955 Wood, James Barker, Edward Starr, Jr. and another man bought the island.

Port Royal Sound

In 1562 a white ship filled with French Huguenot colonists and commanded by Jean Ribaut sailed between St. Helena’s Island (what would later be called Hilton Head), into the mouth of Broad River. It was named Port Royale “because of the largeness and fairness thereof.” The name has endured.

Snake Island

As early as 1783 the small island between Long Island and the main body of Hilton Head was designated Snake Island, likely because it was low, little used by humans and consequently highly infested with reptiles. Presently, the name has been euphemistically altered to Deer Island, although there are few deer or snakes there any longer.

Union Cemetery Road

About one-half mile south of Four Corners, a road branched easterly across Folly Field and Grass Lawn to Springfield and Coggins Point Plantations. On its north side a cemetery was established for the Union soldiers who died here 1861-1872. After the establishment of the National Cemetery in Beaufort, all of the remains were re-interred there. Source: heritagelib.org

Bluffton

Bluffton earned its name because its original one-square mile jurisdiction resided on a bluff above the May River. Families built summer homes on “The Bluff” to escape the heat, with high ground and cool river breezes providing relief. Source: townofbluffton.sc.gov

Barrel Landing

Named for the landing on the Okatie River, where barrels of produce were taken to the surrounding cities of Beaufort, Savannah, and Charleston. Source: hmdb.org

Okatie

Okatie (meaning quiet waters) takes its name from the nearby Okatee River, an estuary of the Port Royal Sound. The Okatie Indian Tribe was one of the largest tribes within the Yemassee Tribe. Source: beaufortcountysc.gov