When most people think of Hilton Head Island, they envision beachfront resorts, bustling shopping centers and world-famous golf courses, but tucked away in a quiet, undeveloped corner of the island is a very different Hilton Head experience—one that spans nearly 300 years of human and natural history.
The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn Plantation is a 68-acre nature preserve, history museum and public art park where twice a week, volunteer docents like Virginia Holihan lead guests on guided walking tours that explore the island’s past, starting with the arrival of colonial planters in the 1700s.
Scrunching along oyster-shell walkways, passing beneath the moss-draped branches of ancient live oaks and taking in the scenic salt marsh vistas, guests may find it easy to fantasize about an idyllic life for those first European settlers, but Holihan’s engaging lecture reveals the truth of the matter. The colonists found Hilton Head teeming with alligators and swarming with malarial mosquitoes. They persevered because there was money to be made raising indigo (which still grows on site) and later, Sea Island cotton. By the start of the Civil War, Hilton Head was home to 25 working plantations, but through various twists of historical fate, only Honey Horn survives to this day.
Holihan’s tour even explains how the property got its unique name. “The earliest owner of this property was a fellow named Hanahan,” she says. “Historians think the name came about because of the Gullah pronunciation of his name.”
The Honey Horn History Walk—which also visits modern attractions including art installations, educational exhibits and demonstration gardens—is just one of several guided tours provided by the Coastal Discovery Museum, says Natalie Hefter, vice president of programs. “We offer a dozen different history and nature programs throughout the year, but in the summer, we add more family-oriented ones.”
Starting on May 2, seasonal programs will include two kid-friendly events: The Butterfly Discovery tour, which takes families inside a permanent butterfly enclosure, and the Blue Crab Tour, which allows guests the opportunity to catch, cook and eat their very own crustacean while learning about the importance of the salt marsh environment.
Tours begin and end at Discovery House, a beautifully preserved 1859 plantation home that serves as a visitor center and free public museum, and all of the center’s programs and exhibits have a common goal, Hefter says.
“Our mission here is to curate the cultural heritage and natural history of the island, so we use the Honey Horn property to tell that story,” she says. “Everything links back to having a better appreciation for this wonderful place where we live."
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