were granted on Edisto Island
before 1700. Landowner’s first harvested timber and deerskins, planted indigo
and some rice, and kept herds of free-ranging cattle to produce hides for the
European market and salt beef for Caribbean plantations. Cotton gradually
became the principal crop, and after the American Revolution, Edisto Island planters
became wealthy and famous from their production of long-staple Sea Island
cotton. The labor done by hundreds of enslaved Africans who developed the
creole Gullah language and culture on the islands and in the Lowcountry,
distinctive for its African traditions.
Since the twentieth century, the island has been redeveloped for use as a
tourist destination and resorts, although some private plantations remain.
The Seaside Plantation House and Spanish
Mount Point are listed in the National Register of Historic Places
