History station 5 Palmetto

In the late 1700’s, the island operated as a palmetto logging plantation, selling wood at the Charleston markets. A 1791 inventory of improvements included a cabin for 30 enslaved people, probably located near here. Palmetto trees were shipped from Dewees Island to Sullivan's during the revolutionary war. Their spongy centers absorbed the energy from cannonballs: some even bounced right back. The "Palmetto state” nickname traces back to that triumphant Battle on Sullivan's Island.