A Brief History of Kiawah Island (2024)

When Nora Riesenberg was a Columbia University student, she studied public policy and interviewed heirs and property owners from John’s Island. “I became fascinated by how land was passed down in the Sea Island area and how inherited land has been appropriated and sold,” she explains.

This led her to research the history of Kiawah Island, a sea island or barrier island located 25 miles southwest of Charleston. Today, she is using this research to write a book that documents its history. “There is no public history program on the island,” she explains. “There’s conservation, but no emphasis on historic preservation.”

Now, Kiawah is primarily a private beach and golf resort, but its history dates back way before 1699. “Technically, it dates back several thousand years,” said Riesenberg. “Archaeologists have documented a wealth of shell rings or oyster middens, prehistoric evidence of seasonal hunting from thousands of years ago.”

She also explains that the first date of European ownership was about 1699, when George Raynor, a British Privateer, was granted Kiawah by the Lord Proprietors. “But there wasn’t any European settlement until about 1737 when enslaved Africans lived on the island and tended cattle for John Stanyarne,” said Riesenberg.

Before 1700, Riesenberg explains that the island was a seasonal hunting and feasting ground where the Kiawah Indians stayed periodically, but it was never occupied year-round. “It’s prone to storms and droughts, so they never settled there but would go out a few times a year.”

According to the Town of Kiawah Island’s history, in 1717, John Stanyarne, a wealthy planter who lived on Johns Island, bought the half of Kiawah Island that had been owned by Captain Raynor and, in 1737, the remaining half that Captain Davis had owned. Stanyarne passed away in 1772, and the island was divided. The west half was given to Mary Gibbs and the east to Elizabeth Vanderhorst.

“The Kiawah Indians, who used to occupy the whole mainland, were basically shoved off the peninsula and onto the outer-lying barrier islands including Kiawah, but they didn’t actually live on the island Kiawah for very long as they died out by 1700.”

In addition to the Kiawah Indians, Riesenberg explains that Kiawah Island may have been a refuge for pirates during its colonial history. “It was also a refuge for bootleggers and illegal whiskey stills in the 1920s,” she said. “I think the whole plantation history is fascinating.”

She also explains how Kiawah has a hierarchy of residential neighborhoods: homes behind the “second gate” are considered more exclusive than those behind the “first gate.”

“One neighborhood behind the second gate, Rhett’s Bluff, used to be called Shoolbred Point and was once a thriving tenant settlement of Black farmers,” she said. “The last Black farmer on Kiawah, Mr. Charlie Scott, lived there until his death in 1954 at the age of 81.”

Another fun fact is about Vanderhorst Street in downtown Charleston. “It is named after Kiawah’s former owners and pronounced locally “Van Dross,” she said. “This pronunciation may be derived from the Gullah language, as in Luther Van Dross. If you pronounce the name with three syllables today, Charlestonians may look at you askance. However, the original family pronounced their surname “Van der Horst” until the last white descendant in Charleston, Frances Vanderhorst, died in 1960. By the 1980s, pronunciation had shifted permanently to “Van Dross.”

Today, Riesenberg describes the housing on Kiawah as mainly high-priced single-family homes. A mix of locals and out-of-state residents have managed to stake their claim on this highly sought-after area. Kiawah regularly attracts golfers, nature enthusiasts, and people looking for relaxation and amenities.

Whether you’re a permanent resident, part-timer, or simply interested in fascinating history, dive deep into Kiawah’s unique past, as the Lowcountry is ripe with stories waiting to be discovered and preserved.