Editing Bluffton, South Carolina (section)

==History==
===Colonial era (1670–1776)===
During the 17th and the 18th centuries, the area comprising southern Beaufort County was known as Granville County of St. Luke's Parish. The [[Yamasee]] people were invited to settle in the area by Lord Cardoss, leader of the nearby Scottish settlement in Beaufort. The Yamasee established ten towns with over 1,200 inhabitants in the area. In 1715, the [[Yamasee War]] broke out, and after several years of fighting, the Yamasee migrated to [[Florida]], opening the "Indian Lands" to European settlement. In 1718, the Lords Proprietors carved the area into several new baronies, including the Devil's Elbow Barony that contained the future town of Bluffton. The first titled owner of the land was the [[Barbados|Barbadian]] planter Sir John Colleton. Following the departure of the Yamasee people, colonists began building plantations in the Bluffton area in 1728. The Colletons prospered by growing cotton, corn and [[indigo dye|indigo]].<ref name="RoseHillHistory">Rose Hill Mansion [https://archive.today/20130411180929/http://www.rosehillmansion.com/James_Kirk.html rosehillmansion.com]</ref>

===American Revolution (1776–1785)===
Before his death in 1776, Sir John Colleton (grandson of the original owner) developed plantations near Victoria Bluff - Foot Point areas and later disposed of much of his barony, much of it bought by the Rose and Kirk families.<ref name="RoseHillHistory" /> These plantations were destroyed by the British under [[Augustine Prévost|General Prévost]] in 1779.<ref name=BHPS>{{cite book| last=Huffman| first=Donna| title=A Guide to Historic Bluffton |year=2007| publisher=Bluffton Historical Preservation Society| isbn=978-1-60530-375-8|page=8}}</ref> During the 18th century, much of the land south of the May River (now known as Palmetto Bluff) was covered with [[rice]] fields.<ref name="rice">{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Grant |date=July 4, 2012 |url=http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/07/04/2124776/palmetto-bluff-to-re-create-history.html |title=Palmetto Bluff to re-create history with 40 acres of rice fields |work=Island Packet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914233748/http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/07/04/2124776/palmetto-bluff-to-re-create-history.html |archive-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref> Rice became a lucrative crop and a part of lowcountry culture until the early 20th century when it was disrupted by a series of devastating storms.<ref name="ricestorms">Island Packet article storm [http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20101019/ARCHIVES/310199980 islandpacket.com]</ref>

===Antebellum era (1785–1861)===
[[File:ChurchOfTheCross.JPG|thumb|Church of the Cross]]
[[File:SecessionOak.jpg|thumb|right|upright|This 350- to 400-year-old [[live oak]] tree at Stock Farm in Bluffton, known as the "Secession Oak", is where in 1844 US Representative [[Robert Barnwell Rhett]] of South Carolina called for the South to withdraw from the Union.<ref>{{cite web | last = Wile | first = Rob | title = Secession Oak Draws Crowd on 166th Anniversary of Bluffton Speech Under its Bows | publisher = The Island Packet | date = July 31, 2010 | url = http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/07/31/1324331/secession-oak-draws-crowd-on-116th.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140319090023/http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/07/31/1324331/secession-oak-draws-crowd-on-116th.html | archive-date = March 19, 2014 }}</ref>]]
The town of Bluffton was eventually built on two adjoining parcels in the Devil's Elbow Barony purchased by Benjamin Walls and James Kirk. The first homes were constructed during the early 1800s by area plantation owners seeking the high ground and cool river breezes as an escape from the unhealthy conditions present on Lowcountry rice and cotton plantations. Easy access by water provided more incentive for expansion, and the many tidal coves afforded excellent locations for residences. The community was originally known as "Kirk's Landing" or "Kirk's Bluff" as shown in Mill's Atlas of 1825. The first streets were formally laid out during the 1830s and the name of Bluffton decided upon in the early 1840s as a compromise between the Kirk and Pope families.

The first South Carolina secession movement began under what is now known as the Secession Oak tree, led by [[Robert Barnwell Rhett]] on July 31, 1844. In the 1850s, a steamboat landing was built at the end of Calhoun Street, and Bluffton became the commercial center of southern Beaufort County as a stopover for travelers between [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] and Beaufort. In 1852, the town was officially incorporated by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly and comprised approximately one square mile.<ref name="scency"/> The iconic [[Church of the Cross]] was designed by architect [[Edward Brickell White]] to seat up to 600 parishioners at a cost of $5,000, and construction began in 1854. On July 17, 1857, the first services were held at the Church of the Cross.<ref name="historic">Historic District Inventory [http://www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/departments/growthmanagement/Documents/HistoricDistrict_InventoryBoard.pdf townofbluffton.sc.gov]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Civil War (1861–1865)===
After a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] victory at the [[Battle of Port Royal]] on November 7, 1861, [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] Brigadier-General Thomas F. Drayton directed the evacuation of rebel forces from [[Hilton Head Island]] to the Bluffton mainland. Occupying Port Royal Harbor, the Union's [[Union blockade|South Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] could then be monitored from rebel lookouts dispersed from Bluffton's substantial picket headquarters. Bluffton's location resulted in it being the only strategic position on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] at which the Confederates could gather direct intelligence on the Union squadron that was conducting crucial blockade operations along the southern coastline. In late May 1863, Major-General David Hunter, Commander of the [[Department of the South]], ordered the destruction of Bluffton by fire. The Union "Expedition against Bluffton" was carried out on June 4, 1863, destroying approximately two thirds of the town's estimated 60 structures.<ref name="Jeff Fulgham 2012"/> Only the town's two churches and fifteen residences remained standing after the attack. Eight antebellum homes and two churches still exist in Old Town and highlight the town's nationally popular registered historic district.

===Postbellum era (1865–1945)===
[[File:10 year old Jimmie. Been shucking 3 years. 6 pots a day, and a 11 year old boy who shucks 7 pots.jpg|thumb|right|Child labor at Varn & Platt Canning Company in Bluffton, 1913. Photo by [[Lewis Hine]]]]
Rebuilding came slowly, as few local landowners could still afford the luxury of a summer home in Bluffton. The town did not experience a true rebuilding until the 1880s, when it emerged as a commercial center for Beaufort County.

===Contemporary era (1945–present)===
[[File:Palmetto Bluff.jpg|thumb|right|Palmetto Bluff at Montage Resort in Bluffton]]
Bluffton remained a commercial center until Coastal Highway ([[U.S. Route 17|US 17]]) and the bridge at [[Port Wentworth, Georgia|Port Wentworth]] over the [[Savannah River]] were completed, which made riverboat trade and travel less attractive. The [[Great Depression]] began shortly thereafter and brought the closure of the town's prosperity and commercial importance. The popularity of Bluffton as a vacation spot remained even after its loss of commercial stature. The development of [[Hilton Head Island]], nearby [[Sun City Hilton Head|Sun City]] and the related development in the 1990s caused a resurgence of commercial activity in the town. In 1996, Bluffton was designated a National Historic District with 46 contributing buildings and two contributing sites. In 1998, the Heyward House opened to the public by the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society. In 1999, the Heyward House was part of the Save America's Treasures program. The Heyward House became the town's welcome center in 2000, and the Old Town Bluffton historic district was established through zoning regulations and architectural standards. In 2005, Bluffton was recognized as a [[Preserve America]] Community, a federal program that encourages community efforts to preserve the nation's cultural and historical assets.

[[Altamaha Town]], [[Bluffton Historic District]], [[Church of the Cross]], and [[Rose Hill Plantation House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>