Kiawah Island Historical Timeline
From 1670 to present
1670: Cassique, the chieftain of the Kiawah Indians, leads English colonists to settle at Charlestowne Landing
1675: Kiawah Indians cede Kiawah Island to the English Lords' Proprietor, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftsbury
1699: Kiawah is granted to Captain George Raynor, rumored to be a pirate
1717: Kiawah is used for cattle range and indigo crops
1722: John Stanyarne acquires Kiawah Island
1772: Mary Gibbes and Elizabeth Vanderhorst inherit Kiawah from Stanyarne
1775: Arnoldus Vanderhorst II, Governor of South Carolina, acquires the title to Sandy Point area of Kiawah
Revolutionary War begins
1780: British burn Arnoldus Vanderhorst II's home
1782: General Nathaniel Greene arranges a truce for American officers to use Kiawah for rest and relaxation; the officers stay at the Gibbes Plantation on the Kiawah River
1797: Mary Gibbes Middleton marries James Shoolbred, British Consul for South and North America
1802: Vanderhorst home is rebuilt, cotton production begins on Kiawah; slave population rises from 13 to 113
1812: During the War of 1812, fortifications are built on the north end of Kiawah to maintain control of the Stono and Kiawah Rivers
1815: Elias Vanderhorst inherits Kiawah from Arnoldus II
Cotton production continues
1862: Civil War brings Confederate troops, who occupy and destroy Shoolbred plantation
1863: Union troops establish fortifications and a landing along Bass Creek
1864: Union Troops almost entirely demolish Vanderhorst plantation home
55th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers leave graffiti messages on Vanderhorst walls
1865: Arnoldus Vanderhorst IV manages the postbellum plantation, returns to cotton crop
1881: After death of Arnoldus IV, wife Adele Vanderhorst and Quash Stevens, mulatto son of Elias Vanderhorst, manage plantation
1900: Adele Vanderhorst purchases the Gibbes property, uniting Kiawah under a single owner for the first time in almost 200 years
1904: Arnoldus V rents out the Vanderhorst home for $500 for the hunting season
1911: Daily passenger and freight service by boat from Kiawah to Charleston begins
1915: Adele Vanderhorst dies
1943: Arnoldus V dies
Charlie Scott, last African American tenant farm worker on the island, is paid $100 a year to serve as caretaker
1950: C.C. Royal purchases Kiawah from the Vanderhorst estate for $125,000 to use for logging and timber
1954: C.C. Royal develops the first summer home neighborhood on Kiawah along the beach and names the street Eugenia, after his wife
1974: The heirs of C.C. Royal sell Kiawah to Kuwait Investment Corporation for $18.2 million
Extensive environmental inventory is conducted and a master plan for development is drawn
1976: Real Estate sales begin
Kiawah Island Inn opens
Marsh Point (now known as Cougar Point) golf course, designed by Gary Player, opens
1981: Turtle Point, designed by Jack Nicklaus, opens
1988: Osprey Point golf course, designed by Tom Fazio,opens
Real estate developer KRA, owned by Charles P. Darby III, Leonard L. Long Jr., and Patrick W. McKinney, et al, purchases Kiawah's undeveloped lands and all resort assets and amenities from Kuwait Investment Corporation for $105 million
Town of Kiawah is incorporated
1989: Hurricane Hugo hits the Charleston area
KRA sells resort assets to Landmark Land Co.
1991: USA beats Europe in dramatic finish of the Ryder Cup Matches at the new Ocean Course designed by Pete Dye
1992: Resort assets are taken over by Resolution Trust Corporation
1993: The Kiawah Island Club is founded by KRA
William H. Goodwin purchases resort assets from RTC
1994: Darby family acquires Vanderhorst home and begins restoration
1995: Kiawah Island Club's River Course, designed by Tom Fazio, opens
2000: Kiawah Island Club's Cassique Course, designed by Tom Watson, opens
2004: The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island opens
Kiawah Development Partners break ground on Freshfields Village
2007: The Ocean Course hosts the Senior PGA Championship
