Callawassie Island

About

Callawassie Island is one of hundreds of barrier and sea islands in the southeast corner in the outer coastal plain, making up a portion of Beaufort County, South Carolina. Callawassie Island is centrally located 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Beaufort, South Carolina, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and 275 miles (443 km) southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The island is ten to twelve miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean in the estuarial system of the Port Royal Sound and is entirely surrounded by salt marshes and tidal creeks. Access to Callawassie is by a half mile causeway, one mile south of SC 170, or by boat via the deep waters of the Colleton River. The island's 880 acres (360 ha) are nestled at the confluence of the Callawassie Creek and the Little Chechessee, Okatie, and Colleton Rivers. With five miles of waterfront on the salt marshes of the Port Royal Sound Basin, Callawassie Island is a major supporter of the state-of-the-art Maritime Center, run by the Port Royal Sound Foundation located on Lemon Island. Archeological and site surveys reveal that the island was inhabited approximately 4,000 years ago. In 1897, archeologists discovered prehistoric burial mounds. 102 sites have been identified and added to the National Register of Historic Places since then. The island is also home to the Callawassie Sugar Works (Sugar Mill Tabby Ruins), the only s

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.