History of Bluffton

Bluffton's birth and growth were intimately intertwined with the rise of the Lowcountry rice and cotton plantations during the antebellum period. Like other coastal resort communities, it provided a refuge from the harsher plantation environment that often manifested itself in Yellow Fever and malaria outbreaks. The high bluffs facing the May River welcomed the comforting southerly winds, keeping the mosquitoes at bay and making sultry summer days bearable. The town was a place where children could attend school and planter families could socialize and discuss the politics of the day.

Bluffton's first small dwellings were constructed in the early 1800s on the river's bluffs, which gave encouragement for others to follow. The layout of the town's streets in 1830 indicate that it had become a summer haven, and soon a commercial center for isolated plantations in the vicinity that received their goods from Savannah via the May River. Literally a hotbed for political rhetoric, in 1844 cries of secession were first given voice and debate here leading to the Bluffton Movement.

With the Civil War raging and the eventual occupation of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort by Union forces, the town was mostly abandoned by residents and utilized as a base for Confederate pickets observing Union troop movements. The town was pillaged by Union forces on several excursions up the May River and eventually burned in June of 1863. Not coincidentally, the coastal Gerogia town of Darien was burned only days apart.

Although the overall destruction was severe, 15 houses and two churches survived, including the c. 1840 Heyward House. By the turn of the century, the town again experienced growth with the opening of several hardware and dry good stores and the growth of a burgeoning oyster harvesting business. Lowcountry residents returned to Bluffton, a place many continued to call home for the summer. The 1922 construction of the Houlihan Bridge from Port Wentworth to SC Highway 17 ended commercial trade by water several years later. This shift away from being a center of trade ushered in a new phase of Bluffton development, where again it became predominately a summer getaway.

Over the last 50 years it has attracted many full-time residents due to the growth of Hilton Head Island as a major southeastern vacation destination. Today Bluffton is one of the fastest growing towns in South Carolina and has become an integral tourism partner with Hilton Head Island.  While considered the “mainland”, Bluffton is anchored by the Intracoastal Waterway, the May River and the Okatie and Colleton  Rivers.

Bluffton is home to a number of upscale residential golfing and lake communities, active adult communities, and a thriving arts community, exemplifying the perfect union of history, heritage, southern hospitality and lowcountry lifestyle..

Bluffton’s unofficial motto, “Bluffton is a State of Mind”, reflects the makeup of this southern community which has become well known for its leisurely, independent attitude.