Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

29 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com S hem Creek has always been a working creek. It fed the Sewee Indians and ferried the father of our country safely across the harbor. It powered sawmills and rice mills and pumped money into Mount Pleasant’s economy with each net of shrimp the trawlers hauled to the docks. And it worked magic for children, opening arms to generations of little boys and girls who paddled into its currents. Despite changing tides through the centuries, Shem Creek still provides a livelihood, a playground and a sense of place. It’s the town’s touchstone — a picture-perfect place that will always capture the heart and soul of Mount Pleasant. BRICKS, BUCKETS, FERRIES AND FLEETS The Indians are thought to have called the creek Shemee, possibly for a small tribe that lived on its banks. Shem Creek, with its head near present-day Bowman Road, was known in the 1700s by the name of the men who owned land alongside it. Back then, it was Sullivan’s Creek, for Capt. Florence O’Sullivan, the patriot for whom Sullivan’s Island is named; Dearsley’s Creek, for George Dearsley, thought to have been one of the first shipbuilders on the creek; and Parris Creek, after Alexander Parris, who also owned land near Beaufort, where the Parris Island Marine Corps facilities are today. This photo of Shem Creek is from the early 1950s, according to Billy Simmons of Simmons Seafood. The trawler in the right foreground is docked where Mount Pleasant Seafood is located. The marshy area on the far left is where Red’s Ice House is now located. The building with the name on the side is the former Shem Creek Fisheries. Photo provided by Billy And Bubba Simmons of Simmons Seafood 1784-1793 – Jonathan Lucas arrives in the new world, possibly after being shipwrecked near Cape Romain at the mouth of the Santee River. He builds water-powered rice mills for planters along the Santee, Waccamaw, Wando, Combahee, Edisto and Ashepoo Rivers and on Winyaw Bay. A mechanical genius, Lucas also erects a windmill on Hog Island, near the mouth of Shem Creek, likely to provide power for a sawmill. 1793-1795 – The Lucas family buys the estate of Jonathan Scott for 500 pounds sterling. Today, the property would be bounded by Shem Creek, McCants Drive, Simmons Street and Myrick Road. Lucas builds an innovative, tidal-powered rice mill and sawmill, with a large holding pond, along the eastern edge of Shem Creek. It is the first mill of its kind in the Charleston area. 1816 – Lucas’son purchases Haddrell’s Point Plantation and Greenwich Mill on Shem Creek from his father for 2,000 pounds sterling. He obtains a small fleet of sailing vessels to enhance his transportation network. 1835 – The Lucas family buys approximately 180 acres on Shem Creek, between the Lucas Mill and the Ferry Tract. This property is laid out as the town of Lucasville, which later becomes the town of Mount Pleasant. history