The Low Country is defined by water — ocean, meandering rivers, tidal creeks and ever-present marshes — that trim the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. This is a land that barely rises above sea level, and provided part of the foundation for lucrative early American rice and cotton plantations.

From the earliest days, the area was a major agricultural power, producing nearly 50 million pounds of rice a year. Records indicate that South Carolina rice planters were richer and more powerful than other plantation owners, who grew tobacco, sugar and cotton. Accordingly, South Carolina was the second wealthiest state in the country, following only mill-laden Massachusetts.

Evolution of the Low Country culture

The coastal Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia emerges from the plantation heritage of African slaves, who were know as the Gullah and the Geechee. While there is uncertainty about the origin of the names themselves, they do signify cultural differences.

Gullah traditionally lived among creeks, rivers, marshes, and barrier islands of coastal South Carolina. Geechee lived along the coasts of Georgia and north Florida. Those living on the mainland referred to themselves as Freshwater Geechee; and those living on the Sea Islands considered themselves Saltwater Geechee.

Both groups, however, used a Creole language and developed distinct cultures that were strongly influenced by their African ancestries. They maintained their West African traditions in their language, arts, crafts, religious beliefs, folklore, rituals and food.

The Gullahs' home islands were accessible only by boat until the 1950s, when recreational development, job opportunities, and population shifts moved them away from their traditional farming, fishing, hunting, and small-scale marketing of subsistence products, such as woven baskets.

Dislocation Begins

Even before commercial encroachment, the US military affected their lives. The Marine Training Center on Parris Island near Beaufort caused massive changes. Other government projects in coastal Georgia had similar dislocating influences.

However, the most expansive impact on Low Country communities came in the form of “the great transformation,” which began with recognition by developers that these vast areas of Palmetto scrub and pine forests had recreational potential.

As early as the mid-1950s, Charles Frazier initiated a strategy of converting isolated south end of Hilton Head Island from a logging forest into a luxury resort, Sea Pines Plantation.

The successful realization of such a vision was enabled, at least in part, by the advent of air conditioning for residential and commercial use and completion of the interstate highway system. I-95 not only funneled travelers to and from New York and Miami, but also into the pristine, hot and humid Low Country.

Breading Success

The eventual efficacy of Frazier’s commercialization plan paved the way for scores of other developers’ projects along the full length of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts.

While the Gullah owned only about one-fifth of the property on Hilton Head — and more on Daufuskie Island — logging interests owned the majority. These absentee landlords, who once thought their land of little value, were eager to sell to developers and thus transformation of the Low Country was hastened.

Further stimulated by publicity and popular fiction — such as novels set in the area by Pat Conroy — the region’s appeal grew broadly, and gentrification expanded. (Conroy called isolated Daufuskie Island Yamacraw in his novel The Water is Wide.)

The impact of high-end recreational and retirement developments has had predictable results. Property values and taxes soared, the indigenous poor — black and white alike — were economically forced out of their homes and off their lands even as they found work among the newly-developed recreational “plantations.”

While the out-migration reach is believed to have peaked in the 1960s, some Gullah children are returning to the area seeking to reconnect with their heritage.

(Special “Thanks” to the US National Park Service, whose research provided the basis for this report.)