Lady's Island (South Carolina)


Ladys Island is a predominantly residential Sea Island located in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Small portions of the island are within the City of Beaufort, while the majority of the island remains unincorporated. The South Carolina Highway 802, also known locally as Sams Point Road, serves as the principal highway for Ladys Island and provides the only access to Coosaw Island.

History

The Coosaw band of Native Americans lived in the high ground of Coosaw Point on Ladys Island. Decorative pottery shards and oyster shells are part of the history of where they prepared the oysters gathered from the Coosaw river. Ladys Island was named in 1698, in honor of Lady Elizabeth Axtell Blake, wife of Joseph Blake, governor of colonial South Carolina. She and her mother, Lady Rebecca Axtell, owned Newington Plantation in present-day Summerville, South Carolina. The island is sometimes called Combachee, Combee, or Comber Island for the ACE Basin river that flows along its border.
The island was predominantly rural and agricultural in character for much of its history. In the 1920s the first bridge connected downtown Beaufort with Ladys Island. As development of Beaufort and surrounding areas began in the last half of the 20th century, the island began to develop former plantation and timber tracts into residential subdivisions. A second bridge connected Ladys Island with Port Royal in the 1980s.
The Laurel Hill Plantation, once owned by Girard B. Henderson, was on Sam’s Point Road on Lady’s Island. It consisted of approximately three hundred and sixty-eight acres of land. Truck Farming for the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops was done on the plantation. The land had a small grass air field, residences, and an assortment of non-historic buildings and mobile homes. Laurel Hill Plantation was sold in 1997 to Homestake Realty Company and is now called Coosaw Point.

Economy

The island is home to four public schools, Beaufort Academy, a K-12 private school, and Saint Peter's Catholic School, a K3-6 private Catholic school. Commercial development clustered at the intersection of S.C. Highway 802 and U.S. Highway 21 serves Ladys Island, Beaufort, and the surrounding Sea Islands of northern Beaufort County. The island is also the location of the Beaufort County Airport. Faith Communities located on the island include St. John's Lutheran Church, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, St. Peter's Catholic Church, Meadowbrook Baptist Church, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, Israelite Baptist Church, Grace Chapel AME Church, Ladys Island Baptist Church, Water's Edge New United Methodist Church, and Tidal Creek Fellowship.

Notable people