May 1, 2011

Locally Speaking

Socastee Celebrates 300th Anniversary

Socastee History

Socastee is an unincorporated community along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, stretching from Murrells Inlet on the East to the Waccamaw River on the West, and from Holmestown Road and Bay Road on the South to SC Highways 544 and 137 (Forestbrook Road) on the North.

The origin of the word “Socastee” is Native American. The will of one Percivell Pawley, dated 1711, states that he received the original land grant for 200 acres of land in “Sawkestee.” Most likely, communal development had existed for European settlers within coastal South Carolina since the early 18th Century. Land deeds are recorded as early as 1773.

The Socastee community, located about three miles from Peachtree Landing on the “Sawkestee” Creek and the Waccamaw River, prospered during the economic boom from the naval stores industry that began in the first part of the 1800′s. A mercantile business and turpentine distillery existed in the Peachtree Landing area after the Civil War. A plat dated 1875 showed two acres on Socastee Creek, indicating a tar kiln in existence. In the wake of the development of the turpentine industry, Socastee became a center for trade due to its prime location, access to shipping via the Waccamaw River and the vast resources of the primal pine forests.

Sometime around 1873, Samuel Sarvis and I.E. Dusenbury opened a store in the community. By that time there were at least three turpentine stills operating in the area as well as a cotton gin and a cooper shop. Burroughs and Collins also operated turpentine camps in the Socastee area along Peachtree Road adding to the mercantile development of the community. With the decline of the demand for naval stores after the turn of the century, the community turned to subsistence farming, fishing and timbering to provide a living. As the Grand Strand area grew, the Socastee community benefited from the proximity of the Myrtle Beach resort area as it continued to grow and develop.

Socastee National Historic District

The Socastee National Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This historic district is one of the few remaining intact examples of post Civil War development. With no significant intrusions or alterations, the District represents the newly emergent small commercial enterprises, along with good examples of architecture prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in South Carolina. Two homes, a store and a pecan grove, dating back to the turn of the 19th century, are located on the western side of Secondary Road 616 and just north of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. A swing bridge and the Methodist Church share in historical significance. –MB Real Estate


Socastee Historic District
Cooper House/Samuel Sarvis House

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