“H” is for Hilton Head Island

“H” is for Hilton Head Island (Beaufort County; 2020 population 37,661). Located in the southeast corner of the state Hilton Head Island is the largest of the islands that flank South Carolina’s Atlantic coast. English explorer Captain William Hilton named the naturally lush semi-tropical island for himself. Native Americans lived on the island for more than two millennia before the arrival of Europeans. In the eighteenth century settlers established a plantation economy based on enslaved labor that flourished until the Civil War. In November 1861 United States Army forces occupied Hilton Head as a base from which to harass Confederate ports. Following the war much of the island reverted to nature. In the second half of the twentieth century planned development transformed Hilton Island from an isolated backwater into a world-famous resort and recreational community.