Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina.
It is 5 miles long by almost 2.5 miles. With over 3 miles of beachfront, Daufuskie is surrounded by the waters of Calibogue Sound, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.
Accessible only by ferry or barge, and with a full-time population of just over 400, Daufuskie Island contains environmental preserves, private communities, resorts, Gullah houses, diverse art galleries and history. The island was named a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places due to its Gullah and Civil War history. From Bluffton, you can get to Daufuskie by taking the Daufuskie Island Ferry, which departs from Buckingham Landing in Bluffton or May River Excursions Water Taxi’s point of departure in Old Town Bluffton.
For thousands of years, indigenous Muskogean Indians called Daufuskie Island home.
The word “Daufuskie” comes from the Muscogee language and means “sharp feather,” due to the Island’s distinctive shape. In the mid-1500s, Spanish explorers had begun colonization of the Southeastern Coast of the United States, followed by the French and English. During this period that the Spanish settlers introduced their Iberian horses, and descendants of these horses, known as Carolina Marsh Tackies. Marsh Tackies live on the Island to this day.
In the late 1600s, the Spanish enlisted native warriors to challenge a growing number of European settlements. These clashes culminated in the Yamassee Uprising, three brutal battles between 1715-1717 on the southwestern shore of Daufuskie.
During the American Revolution, Daufuskie received the nickname “Little Bermuda.”
This was due to the residents’ loyalist sentiments. Following the Revolution, the introduction of Sea Island Cotton ushered in a period of economic growth.
Shipbuilders prized Daufuskie’s of live oak trees for their strength, resistance to rot and naturally curved limbs. Sales of the live oaks’ lumber contributed to economic growth. The USS Constitution “Old Ironsides” was reconstructed from oak harvested on the Island.
Prior to the Civil War, Daufuskie boasted 11 plantations with several large tabby mansions and a large slave population.
During the Civil War, the Union forces’ superior naval fleet took command of all Beaufort-area islands early. This caused plantation owners to flee their properties and leave their slaves behind. After the war, Daufuskie’s remoteness allowed the Gullah language and culture to survive and flourish for generations.
In 1873, the Haig Point Rear Range Light, and in 1883, the Bloody Point Front Range Lights were built to assist ships approaching the Savannah River entrance. During this time, the oyster industry flourished. By the turn of the century, the Island had a population of approximately 3,000. Most residents worked in the shellfish trade. The pollution from the Savannah River eventually forced the closing of the oyster industry in the 1950s.
Electricity arrived in 1953 and telephones in 1972.
The population shrank to less than 100 until Haig Point, Melrose, Bloody Point and Oak Ridge came in the 1980s. A census in 2007 indicated that there were 429 residents on the Island.
Daufuskie Island has a rich legacy of Gullah history. Thanks to the Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation’s restoration efforts, the Island’s identity and culture should continue.
Thanks go out to the Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation for allowing us to use information from their website.
