Callawassie Island is one of hundreds of barrier and sea islands in the southeast corner in the outer coastal plain, making up a portion of Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Callawassie Island is centrally located southwest of Beaufort, South Carolina, northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The island is ten to twelve miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean in the estuarial system of the Port Royal Sound and is entirely surrounded by salt marshes and tidal creeks. Access to Callawassie is by a half mile causeway, one mile south of SC 170, or by boat via the deep waters of the Colleton River. The island's are nestled at the confluence of the Callawassie Creek and the Little Chechessee, Okatie, and Colleton Rivers. With five miles of waterfront on the salt marshes of the Port Royal Sound Basin, Callawassie Island is a major supporter of the state-of-the-art Maritime Center, run by the Port Royal Sound Foundation located on Lemon Island.
Archeological and site surveys reveal that the island was inhabited approximately 4,000 years ago. In 1897, archeologists discovered prehistoric burial mounds. 102 sites have been identified and added to the National Register of Historic Places since then. The island is also home to the Callawassie Sugar Works (Sugar Mill Tabby Ruins), the only sugar mill ruins known to exist in South Carolina.
In 2006, Callawassie Island was designated as South Carolina's first Community Wildlife Habitat (the 15th in the nation) with more than 200 residences being certified as Backyard Wildlife Habitats.
The owners of 717 homes and home sites have access to 33 lagoons, three parks, one butterfly garden, and three rookeries, as well as a 27-hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio, tennis courts, pickleball courts, two pools, two clubhouses, two kayak launch docks, and three community fishing/crabbing docks, which also provide boat slips for both long-term and daily dockage.
Geography and topography
The South Carolina coastal area known as the "Lowcountry" is geographically composed of: multiple sea islands, deep natural harbors, meandering estuaries which extend for miles inland, and tidal marshlands, populated by unique flora, as well as reptilian and aquatic ecosystems.
Adjacent islands include: Spring, Lemon, and Daws Islands which are settled as well as Wim's, Crane, and Rose Islands which are uninhabited. Surrounding waters include: the Colleton and Okatie Rivers and Little Chechessee and Callawassie Creeks.
History
First settlers
The earliest history of Callawassie Island, dating back 4,000 years, is minimally revealed in multiple archeological and site surveys. The Yamassee Indians gave Callawassie Island its name in the early 17th century and occupied the Lowcountry until their expulsion by the English. The first archeological survey was conducted in 1897–98, and subsequent archeological and site surveys were conducted between the 1970s and 1990s. Archeological discoveries of artifacts ranging from cooking utensils, hunting and construction implements, and human remains have been unearthed from 102 registered historic sites found on the island. Multiple shell refuse mounds called "middens" provide evidence of one of the primary dietary items of early tribal settlers. Site survey discoveries of tabby constructed homes, farm houses, cabins, and a tabby works sugar mill built during the period between 1700 and the 1850s bear witness to early European settlers.
Historic documents now located in area museums, as well as historic societies and local historians, provide an early glimpse of settlement history along the South Carolina coast, beginning in the 16th century. Trading ships from European nations, including Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands, sailed with the trade winds, following routes to Central America where they would trade and return home with enormous riches. Eventually trading vessels found their way to the coasts of Florida and South Carolina. Minor settlements sprang to life. Hunting, farming, and trading with local Indian tribes were primary settlement activities. Many settlements did not survive due to warring between European nations, violent uprisings by Indian tribes, and an inability to cope with the hostile environment. However, with every setback, came new explorations, settlements, and governing European nations.