September 25, 2013
After breakfast we had our usual trip review and then departed
for Lady’s Island and St. Helena Island.
This ride took us through beautiful farm and our to the end of Land’s
End Rd where we had a view of Paris Island across the Beaufort River. Along the way we cycled past the historic
Chapel of Ease, which just consists of the tabby-wall ruins (church was
destroyed by fire in 1886). This was one
of the churches constructed in the Colonial period (constructed 1742 – 1747) as
a place of worship for the plantations, because the plantations were a great
distance from the churches in Beaufort.
St. Helena Island is between Beaufort and the beaches of
Harbor, Hunting, and Fripp Islands. Here
many of the freed slaves lived in relative isolation during and after the Civil
War. It is also the center of African
American Gullah culture and language.
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Low Country regions of
South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah
have preserved more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any
other US African American community. The
language is related to Jamaican Creole, Bahamian Dialect, and the Krio language
of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The
Gullah storytelling, foods, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing
traditions are strongly influenced by African cultures.
St. Helena Island is also the site of Fort Fremont, which was built in 1898 in response to the Spanish American war. It was designed as a defense for the coaling station and dry dock at the Point Royal naval station.
Our lunch stop was at the Penn Center, which served as a
school and community center for the African American community beginning in
1862. It was founded by two
Pennsylvanian women (Laura Towne and Ellen Murray) during the Union occupation
to educate 10,000 former slaves to read, write, and survive in a world without
plantation masters. In the 1950s and
'60s, as the only center in the South with bi-racial accommodations, it served
as the meeting place for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group planned the famous 1963 "March on
Washington" while staying at Penn Center.
Penn Center has worked on many community-based projects over
the years, such as bringing public water to the islands, helping farmers to buy
and market cooperatives and advocating better housing and health care for
low-income islanders.
In November 1981 Executive Director Emory Campbell established
Heritage Days as a way to celebrate islanders' achievements with cultural
exhibits, food, songs, stories, games and dances.
A visit to the Center gave us an opportunity to view the many
periods of the Center’s contribution to African American education and cultural
preservation. The photographic displays
that go back into the latter 1800’s were most interesting.
After lunch we had a quick ride back to Beaufort with the help
of a tail wind.
At 5 pm, we met for a tour of the historic area of Beaufort by
Evelene. She covered a lot of the early
history of the city and gave us a running history of the large number of
antebellum homes. The survival of these
homes was a consequence of Beaufort being captured at the beginning of the
Civil War and being a “Union” city throughout the war with many of the homes
serving as hospitals.
After the tour we had an outstanding dinner at Saltus with very relaxing views over the water. Tomorrow we leave Beaufort and are shuttled
to Savannah – our last city on the trip.
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| Fort Fremont fortifications |
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| For Fremont Preserve |
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| At Bay Point Rd terminus |
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| Spencer and Conrad looking at Parris Island |
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| Archway of trees on Seaside Rd. |
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| Downtown Beaufort from bridge |
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| Beaufort marina |
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| Beaufort Inn |
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| Fisher House (our duplex at Beaufort Inn) |
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| At Beaufort marina |
The following are various antebellum homes on the Beaufort historic home tour:
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| The Castle |
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| Beaufort River and grasslands |
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| At Saltus River Grill for dinner |
