Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

33 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com and operating a turtle crawl. The “Cooter Pen” shipped live diamondback terrapins to the larger cities in the Northeast, where they appeared on menus of the finest hotel restaurants. By the 1930s, shrimping and boat building were the major industries on the creek. The Darby family bought the Mount Pleasant Boat Building Co. in 1921, and the business thrived, specializing in engine installation, repairs and equipment sales, as well as construction. When the company finally closed in 1990, the boat building business ceased on the creek. While the shrimping industry continues at Shem Creek, it faces pressure from cheap foreign imports and commercial development. In 2002, the town of Mount Pleasant appointed a special Shem Creek Management Committee to “determine a vision and outline issues of importance to the future of Shem Creek.” After several months spent gathering opinions and information, their conclusion was “that the character of the creek remains as it is — natural, water-dependent, charming — a working creek.” Photo provided by the Town of Mount Pleasant. 2013 – The town of Mount Pleasant approves a parking garage/mixed use building on the corner of Mill Street and Coleman, just a stone’s throw away from Shem Creek. 2016 – The town of Mount Pleasant rules to condemn the OK Tire property on the northern side of Shem Creek. The city opens an additional 1,500-foot-long section of the boardwalk that connects to the original, providing spectacular birding opportunities. 2019 – The pedestrian bridge over Shem Creek is complete. The bridge connects the Coleman Boulevard sidewalk near Tavern & Table to the boardwalk near Mount Pleasant Seafood on the other side of the creek. 2020 - The Mount Pleasant Town Council voted to name the Shem Creek pedestrian bridge in honor of Captain Wayne Magwood and his family. It will be called Magwood Boardwalk. history