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A HISTORY AND LEGEND OF PAWLEYS ISLAND |
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‘Tis a frightening story dating back to the year 1526 when Spanish Privateers entered Winyah Bay. The maze of rivers with the water, tainted the color of chocolate from tannin streaming into the bay, provided the perfect hiding place for the pirates. Four rivers converged to fill the bay with nutrients that also provided an abundance of fresh and salt water food for the visitors and a place to rest while taking on fresh provisions before embarking on voyages to pillage the unsuspecting ships traveling the trade routes to the West Indies. The Natives were often conscripted by the privateers to provide manpower when casualties reduced the ships' crews.
Settlement of the area by the English in Charleston and in Georgetown in 1670 brought more misery to the natives as slaves were brought from Africa to cultivate the rich land yielding abundance of crops to export. "Naval Stores" from pine tree resin was sold and used to seal the hulls of the huge sailing ships. In early 1729 the area became one of the principal rice and indigo producing areas in the world. The deep water Charleston harbor soon became an official port of entry in 1732. Slaves were brought in through the Port of Charleston to work the huge plantations. Canals were excavated and dams were erected to control the water into the plantation fields. As other countries recognized the value of rice, the technology to grow this product was exported all over the world. A few rice producing plantations remain in South Carolina.
The resourcefulness of the plantation owners and the abundance of cheap slave labor soon provided another crop for export. Indigo, the basis of a deep purple dye was exported to England. The robes of English royalty set the trend for the rest of the world. The Revolutionary war brought an end to the production of Indigo but other valuable crops were to be grown. Cotton fields and tobacco fields provided additional lucrative exports. Cotton fields can be seen in the countryside every fall.
The Civil War of 1862 was a devastating event in that most of the beautiful plantations of the south were destroyed. Charred foundations |
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can still be seen among the huge moss covered live oak trees . The "Emancipation Proclamation" that freed the slaves removed the cheap source of labor that formerly allowed plantation owners to amass huge fortunes. The plantation owners in many instances were foreigners or wealthy northerners. To this day much of the land is owned by their descendants. Some has been donated to the state and is the site of wonderful parks for public use, but much is still in private hands and is being exploited by developers. The most famous names in industrial north America adorn the roster of wealthy plantation landowners.
Tales of ghosts prevail with the names of Blackbeard, Aaron Burr, Theodosia, and Alice Flagg. Many bear the names of restaurants such as Alice Flagg’s and "Drunken Jacks" in the Murrells Inlet community to the north. The legends of Aaron & Theodosia BURR, the ghost of the Gray Man and others that inhabit local historical dwellings is recounted and legends have been transformed into plays that are still locally produced. It is said that grass doesn't grow around the tombstone of Alice Flagg that is in All Saints graveyard in Pawleys Island. A book "THE GHOSTS OF GEORGETOWN" by Elizabeth Robertson Huntsinger can be found in the local library and most area book stores. |
