CONSERVATION : ARCHAEOLOGY

Documenting the history of Palmetto Bluff has been a passion and a past time for many associated with this property for many years. It wasn’t until Crescent Resources, LLC began developing Palmetto Bluff, however, that the true investigations began. The company hired an on-staff archaeologist, Dr. Mary Socci, PhD and worked with Ellen Shlasko of Integrated Archaeological Services to form a company and hire a team dedicated solely to Palmetto Bluff. This team built upon previous work documenting locations of historical and archaeological sites on the property to oversee and conduct “digs” (data recovery operations) for these locations. It was during this time that true investigative research began.

History Center
The History Center at Palmetto Bluff was designed to display artifacts which reveal fascinating details from past generations of human occupation on the 20,000–acre site of this newly emerging community.

The Palmetto Bluff Conservancy’s Executive Director, Patty Kennedy, worked with Dr. Mary Socci, the community's on–site archaeologist, to uncover numerous fascinating artifacts to include in the History Center, which features an historic "timeline wall," as well as maps and miniature exhibits. The timeline wall traces Palmetto Bluff’s past from 10,000 B.C. to present day. The wall recounts such things as the history of early Native Americans who inhabited the local area as well as specific events from the more recent past.

One of many changing exhibits features Richard T. Wilson, Jr., a Wall Street financier from New York City, who purchased 18,000 acres of the current Palmetto Bluff property in 1902. Wilson, like other multi–millionaires from the North and Midwest, saw great value in the peace, quiet and beauty of the Lowcountry as well as the maritime forests teeming with wild game. This combination of recreation and relaxation made the Bluffton area a perfect getaway.

Some items discovered onsite and displayed in the History Center include; a Listerine bottle from the early 1900s, (used to ward off common colds and illness), En’s Fruit Salt Derivative (imported from England to treat upset stomachs), Dr. Scott’s electric toothbrush (permanently charged with electromagnetic current), Carl Schultz seltzer water, De Betuwe jam jar (imported from the Netherlands) and Lea & Perrins sauce.

The History Center is located in Wilson Village and is open to the public on a daily basis. There is no admission fee.