Daufuskie Island, tucked between Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, was inhabited by numerous native tribes until the early 1700s when they were driven away from their land by explorers, traders and settlers. While under British rule, plantations were developed, growing indigo and later Sea Island cotton. Slaves tilled the fields while plantation owners and their families spent much of the year away. The slaves’ isolation provided the setting for the retention of their African culture.
Information courtesy of The Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation.
Mt. Carmel Baptist Church No. 2 The church building and its predecessor were built by the Cooper River residents of the north end of the island. Read More… |
Hinson White Home This charming 1916 house is representative of Daufuskie Island Gullah architecture. Read More… |
Mary Fields School The two room Mary Fields School was built for the island’s black children in the early 1930s. Read More… |
Tabby Ruin Tabby is a building material made from a mixture of ground oyster shells, sand and water. Read More… |
Mary Field Cemetery Mary Field Cemetery is the largest Gullah cemetery on the island. There are grave markers dating from… Read More… |
Moses Ficklin Cottage & Oak Tree The enormous ancient live oak fronting this restored Gullah home is thought to have greeted Spanish… Read More… |
Cooper River Cemetery A very important segment of Daufuskie Island Gullah life wa providing a proper burial for loved ones. Read More… |
Sarah Grant Home Sarah Grant was midwife, Sunday school president, and PTA president during her influential life. Read More… |
Mary Dunn Cemetery This cemetery is the only historic cemetery for white people on Daufuskie Island. Established in… Read More… |
Haig Point Haig Point, was known as Haig’s Point in plantation days. It is home to the Haig Point Lighthouse. Read More… |
Public Dock In 1883, near this location, Maggioni & Company opened an oyster cannery which provided employment for… Read More… |
The Railroad In the early 1900s, logging became a profitable island investment. Materials to build a narrow-gauge… Read More… |
Melrose Daufuskie Island was divided into eleven plantations at the start of the Civil War, varying in size from two… Read More… |
White School House The White School House was built in 1913 by the Beaufort County Board of Education for white children… Read More… |
Bloody Point April 15, 1715 was the date of the first of three skirmishes at this site between Yemassee Indians and… Read More… |
Oyster Union Society Hall From the turn of the 20th century until pollution in the Savannah River ruined the oyster beds in the 1950s… Read More… |
The Council Tree After Sunday church services, men would gather under a tree such as this stately oak and talk at length… Read More… |
Bloody Point Cemetery The Bloody Point Cemetery, one of the six Gullah cemeteries on the island, was established along the Mongin… Read More… |
First Union African Baptist Church The church was built in 1884 near the site of the 1881 church that was destroyed by fire. It has stood as a… Read More… |
Bloody Point Lighthouse In 1882 the U.S. Government paid $425 for land for the Bloody Point Light: a front range lighthouse and… Read More… |
