68 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com on the coast landowners flocked to the coast where they could enjoy the cool ocean air. By the 1790s, according to historian Lee Brockington, many rudimentary summer shacks stood at the edge of the easternmost portion of Pawleys’ mainland marsh where the crossover of the South Causeway begins. She cited a map drawn in 1820 by William Hemingway, which concurs that the earliest “seashore” houses were not constructed on the barrier island itself. Additionally, a survey taken in 1820 by state architect and engineer Robert Mills, who published his atlas in 1825, documented that during that time cottages only existed on the mainland. In his publication, Mills wrote, “The inhabitants of Georgetown, and its vicinity, have a delightful and salubrious retreat in the sickly season, on North Island, and the adjacent sea islands. A happier situation is not to be found anywhere; for here the perpetual breezes and saline vapours are constantly rising from the ocean. Three hours brings the citizens from the town to the sea. The good things of this life are here really enjoyed by the inhabitants in abundance; for the land and the ocean lay treasures at their feet.” After 1845, when governor (1856-1858) and planter Robert F.W. Allston had the South Causeway constructed, whole houses from the mainland were dismantled and transported onto the island. However, as Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops invaded Georgetown, removed documents and burned them at the Chesterfield County Courthouse during the Civil War, any records that explained when or how the structures were reconstructed or moved no longer exist. By 1852, nine houses occupied the island, Brockington said. She explained that in recent times architects, preservationists and archivists have crawled through several of the buildings that are still standing there today and documented that they found Roman numerals etched into the beams, dating the original construction to the 18th century. Brockington added that by 1861, Pawleys Island had become well established as a summer colony. However, there is another destination on the Eastern seaboard that has drawn tourists to its shores long before the “resort” of Pawleys Island was settled as a vacation spot. In 1620, pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. That same year, Dutch captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey discovered a peninsula on the Delaware River and named it after himself. Between 1761 and 1766, Cape May became the first seaside resort in the colonies. Tourist lodging was built in 1834 and in 1842, a 300-person hotel was erected. Further evidence suggests that by the late 18th century, prominent Charlestonian and Georgetonian planters were vacationing at other stylish seaside resorts around New England in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, as well. Although Pawleys Island may not exactly be the oldest seaside resort in America, the coastal area has survived the shifting sands of time and tides. Having weathered hundreds of years of history and hurricanes, this Lowcountry beach of yesteryear continues to attract visitors from near and far. The evolution of Pawleys Island as one of America’s oldest seaside resorts.
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