History of Murrells Inlet

the Civil War. Fraser held onto the plantation briefly before selling to Robert Ernest Beaty in 1905. Clarke A. Willcox of Marion purchased Wachesaw and the Hermitage in 1910 for $10,000 to use as a summer retreat. The Willcox family retained the Hermitage, but sold Wachesaw in 1930 to William A. Kimbel, who also bought Richmond Hill with the purpose of developing a large hunting estate. With his purchase of both properties, Kimbel had restored the boundaries of John Murrell's original plantation.

In 1920, Dr. Julius A. Mood of Sumter and a group of sportsmen bought Brookgreen, Springfield, Laurel Hill, and The Oaks to use as a hunting preserve. His daughter, Julia Mood Peterkin, made several visits to Brookgreen and used the area as the setting for some of her novels. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Scarlet Sister Mary in 1928. Club members enjoyed their hunting paradise for ten years as a succession of owners conserved the property before selling out to yet another wealthy outsider seeking a rural estate in the south where land was cheap. After numerous owners, railroad magnate Archer Milton Huntington purchased Brookgreen in 1930. At first, he and his wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington, intended Brookgreen as a winter resort. Eventually, they decided to use the plantation as an outdoor gallery for Mrs. Huntington's award-winning sculptures. The Huntington’s constructed Atalaya, a Spanish-style fort, on the beach to use for her studio and living quarters at what is now Huntington State Park, abandoning the plantation houses. Brookgreen is open year round and offers tremendous opportunities for investigating the old rice culture, modern art, and beautiful gardens, for which Brookgreen is famous today.

The years during the Reconstruction until World War I saw an increase in the number of settlers who moved to Murrells Inlet to enjoy the natural resources provided. The family names listed in the 1900–1930 census records