Charlie Simmons & Fishcamp
The Reilley and Simmons families envisioned Fishcamp on Broad Creek as a community spot where neighbors could gather over delicious meals and share laughter. After restoring the original Simmons Fishing Camp building, Fishcamp on Broad Creek opened to rave reviews in October 2016. The land and the Camp boast a rich history rooted in Gullah culture. Today, we preserve that family spirit at Fishcamp on Broad Creek by honoring the history and significance of the site – in the original building offering great seafood, and in Cap’n Charlie Simmon’s memory through excellent service.
Read More
Driessen Beach Park
Driessen Beach Park is both a scenic retreat and a living testament to Hilton Head Island’s African American legacy. Named after Henry Driessen Sr., a prominent Black landowner who acquired part of the former Chaplin Plantation in 1921, the park honors a family lineage rooted in land stewardship and civic leadership, including Henry Driessen Jr., the island’s first African American town councilman.
Read More
Barnwell Tabby
Standing for nearly three centuries, the Barnwell Tabby tells a story that continues to reveal its secrets. Once thought to date from the 1800s, this North Island landmark was actually built between 1730 and 1750 — predating the American Revolution and challenging earlier beliefs about Hilton Head Island’s colonial period.
Read More
Fisherman’s Co-Op: Water, Work, and Heritage of Hilton Head Island
From the oyster beds to the bateaux, from shrimp boats to the sentinel heron, Hilton Head Island’s waterways have shaped and sustained the Gullah way of life for generations. This post traces the intertwined stories of foodways, craftsmanship, and conservation—showing how oysters built communities, bateaux linked them, shrimp boats sustained them, and herons still guard them. Together these elements reveal a living culture of resilience, stewardship, and deep connection to the marsh. Dive in to experience the Gullah legacy that continues to define Hilton Head today.
Read More
Fisherman's Cooperative
In April 1970, a group of Black Hilton Head Island fishermen and members of the resort development community sailed to Washington, D.C., to deliver a petition with 45,000 signatures protesting the construction of a petrochemical plant on Victoria Bluff, near the Island. That trip was the culmination of a long and valiant fight to preserve the area’s natural environment that included environmentalists, developers, concerned citizens and the members of the Hilton Head Fishing Cooperative. Their courageous efforts successfully preserved the area’s natural environment and resources, which significantly contributed to the survival of the Lowcountry’s shrimping industry.
Read More
Robinson Junior High
Jenkins, Septima Clark (1898-1987), and Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) founded the first Citizenship School in 1957 to encourage literacy and voter registration. Its success led to many similar schools across the South, called “the base on which the whole civil rights movement was built.” The Progressive Club was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Read More
Old Schoolhouse
In 1954, Hilton Head Elementary School opened for the island’s black students. The school's construction was part of the state' School Expansion Program from 1951 - 1954. With seven classrooms and a cafeteria and auditorium, this was the largest school ever built on the island. Integration of the school was mandatory in 1972. Isaac Wilborn was this school's only principal, serving from 1954 until 1974, when the school closed because it was replaced with a larger, new school. The building was used for a county courthouse annex for a few years and was torn down in the early 1990's.
Read More
Historic Schools
Historic Schools were educational landmarks on Hilton Head Island—spotlighting each institution’s founding legacy, architectural heritage, and community‑centered programs, complete with direct links for deeper exploration.
Read More
The Toni Morrison Reflection Bench at Mitchelville
The Toni Morrison Society has installed its eighth Bench by the Road on Hilton Head Island, honoring the legacy of the formerly enslaved African Americans who founded Mitchelville—the first self-governing freedmen’s village in the South. The bench, placed by The Mitchelville Preservation Project, commemorates the resilience and achievement of a community that built homes, churches, and schools in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Read More
