Folly Beach HIstory - Folly Beach

Folly Beach HIstory
Folly Beach Surf Cam.com

ote from our developers: Folly Beach has such a wonderful and interesting history that we think it is a shame that there isn't more detailed information on the internet about our wonderful island... so we're going to do some thing about it.:)

We have decided to create a large Folly Beach history section (by the time we are done we expect to have 50+ pages devoted to all kinds of hard to find information about the beginning and "growth" of Folly throughout the years. At the peak of our "visitor traffic" season, 12,000 people a day will have the opportunity to learn about the unique and storied history of Folly Beach.

We will be breaking down our History section into the following time periods...

1600 - 1861: Shipwrecks, Slaves and Pirates
First record of Folly Island is September 9, 1696 when it was was given as a royal grant to William Rivers. It was privately owned and changed hands several times over the years. During the time before the Civil war, Folly Island was also known as Coffin Land and was somewhat secluded from the civilization and the control of Charleston government. In fact, during the fall and winter of 1832, Charleston officials unsuccessfully attempted to quarantine Folly from James Island and Charleston due to an outbreak of cholera that began with the shipwreck of Brig Amelia on Folly Beach just west of the current Holiday Inn. Folly Island, held a reputation as a hideout for pirates, with only occasional presence of law from Charleston, the few adventurous people of this small island of Folly Beach governed themselves.

Accounts of shipwrecks, pirates, freed slaves and scavengers can be found in Ghosts or Devils, I'm Done: Startling Adventures of Two Officers of the 62nd Ohio Infantry On Folly Island (Deadwood, S.D.: 1908) and Edge of America: Folly Beach A Pictorial History (James W. Hagy: 1997).

1861 - 1865: Folly Island Becomes A Civil War Camp Ground
Charleston is a port city on a peninsula protected within a bay. Folly Island is a six and a half mile long, half mile wide barrier island that receives the brunt of the harsh winds, waves and weather from the Atlantic Ocean. It also became the campsite from which the United States Union would try to take back Charleston from the South. Little fighting occurred on Folly Island, but of the thousands of troops who occupied Folly, many died or fell ill from exposure to the elements and poor sanitation. Folly Island was a fascinating, strange and uninhabitable jungle like place for northern troops back in the 1860s. During the beginning of the Civil War, strategically useless fortification and still surviving streets were constructed by General Israel Vodges. On July 10th, 1863, General Gillmore led Federal Navy and ground forces in taking the lower portion of Morris Island. By September 6th, Rebels abandoned Fort Wagner, leaving the entire Morris Island to Federal forces. Eventually the entire island was a huge campground covered with tents.

1865- 1918: Folly Island - Post Civil War to World War I
More info coming soon.

1918 - 1945: The Peaceful Years; Prosperity and Optimism
More info coming soon.

1946 - 1964: The Beginning of the "Baby - Boom"
More info coming soon.

1959 - 1989: Disaster Strikes
More info coming soon.

1989 - Present: Rebuilding for the Future; Post Hugo to the present
More info coming soon.