Rebel troops fled the decimated fort as Union forces invaded, effectively ending the Civil War-at least on Hilton Head Island. On November 7, 1861, a Union armada anchored off Scarborough Head, the northeastern heel of foot-shaped Hilton Head Island and blasted Confederate defenses at Confederate Fort Walker. Folly Creek and marsh is all that remains of the ancient waterway.
About 50 years ago, this little river of grass was converted to a matrix of lagoons, canals, and even a golf course over 50 years ago. The Folly flowed all the way to Sea Pines, where it turned back into the ocean. Second, Folly Creek is a secret memory, a remnant of an inland marsh that ran parallel to the shore, like a Lowcountry Everglades. First, the shallow tidal grassland is a refuge for wildlife: wading birds, osprey, and white-tailed deer and coastal fish. The Folly marsh is a nature treasure for two reasons. Powerful tidal currents pour inland through the Folly and nourish a bay-shaped salt marsh behind rows of dunes. The “Folly” is a creek that cuts across the beach between Singleton Beach Road and Burke’s Beach Road, south of the Folly Field community. Here William Elliot was the first to cultivate long-staple Sea Island Cotton, which brought great wealth to Hilton Head Island planters-before the Civil War washed away the plantation economy, and the rising sea level washed away the Elliot’s plantation manse. These were tabby cement footings on the renowned Myrtle Bank Plantation. The landscape is a gallery of things past: bleached live oak logs, clumps of ancient marsh grass, tidal pools that lure shorebirds, and most mysterious: odd blocks encrusted with oyster shells. At high tide this strand is only a few yards wide.Īt ebb (low) tide, vast gray sand flats appear. Relentless tidal currents in Port Royal Sound have rolled the beach into the nearby salt marsh.
Located on the northern tip of the Island, this shoreline has retreated back at least 1,000 yards.
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