Lady's Island is a predominantly residential Sea Island located in Beaufort County,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Small portions of the island are within the City of Beaufort, while the majority of the island remains unincorporated. The South Carolina Highway 802, also known locally as Sams Point Road, serves as the principal highway for Lady's Island and provides the only access to Coosaw Island.

History

The Coosaw band of Native Americans lived in the high ground of Coosaw Point on Lady's Island. Decorative pottery shards and oyster shells are part of the history of where they prepared the oysters gathered from the Coosaw river. Lady's Island was named in 1698, in honor of Lady Elizabeth Axtell Blake, wife of Joseph Blake, governor of colonial South Carolina. She and her mother, Lady Rebecca Axtell, owned

Newington Plantation Newington Plantation is a historic archaeological site located near Stallsville, Dorchester County, South Carolina. The plantation was originally settled in the early or middle 1680s. Newington includes the remains of a series of house forms as ...

in present-day

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, South Carolina, Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley County, South Carolina, Berkeley and Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston ...

. The island is sometimes called Combachee, Combee, or Comber Island for the

ACE Basin The Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Basin (abbreviated as ACE Basin, spoken as ''ace basin'') is one of the largest undeveloped estuaries along the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic Coast of the United States. Located primarily in Colleton County, South Ca ...

river that flows along its border. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Union forces occupied the islands under the direction of General T. W. Sherman. All of the plantations gave way to military occupation. the major post on Lady's Island was "Coosaw" or "Sams' fort on the northeastern point of the Island. At this time there were about 30 plantations on the Ladys' Island. The island was predominantly rural and agricultural in character for much of its history. In 1927, the first bridge connected downtown Beaufort with Lady's Island. As development of Beaufort and surrounding areas began in the last half of the 20th century, the island began to develop former plantation and timber tracts into residential subdivisions. A second bridge connected Ladys Island with

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

in the 1980s.

Economy

The island is home to four public schools (two elementary, one middle, and one

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

), Beaufort Academy, a K-12 private school, and Saint Peter's Catholic School, a K3-6 private Catholic school. Commercial development clustered at the intersection of S.C. Highway 802 and U.S. Highway 21 serves Lady's Island, Beaufort, and the surrounding Sea Islands of northern Beaufort County. The island is also the location of the Beaufort County Airport. Faith Communities located on the island include First Scots Presbyterian Church of Beaufort, St. John's Lutheran Church, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, St. Peter's Catholic Church, Meadowbrook Baptist Church, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, Israelite Baptist Church, Grace Chapel AME Church, Lady's Island Baptist Church, Water's Edge New United Methodist Church, and Tidal Creek Fellowship.

Ecosystems

Lady's Island has three

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s: the maritime ecosystem of upland forest area, the

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

ecosystem of deep water didal habitats, and the

palustrine Palustrine wetlands include any inland wetland that contains ocean-derived salts in concentrations of less than 0.5 parts per thousand, and is non- tidal. The word ''palustrine'' comes from the Latin word ''palus'' or marsh. Wetlands within this ...

ecosystem of fresh water wetlands.

Notable people

* Lady Elizabeth Axtell Blake, Ladys Island was named in honor of her * Joseph Blake, governor of colonial South Carolina

References

External links

Ladys Island, Beaufort SC
lady's Island SC form the air.
FaceBook page
Ladys Island, SC {{authority control Towns in Beaufort County, South Carolina Islands of Beaufort County, South Carolina Islands of South Carolina Hilton Head Island–Beaufort micropolitan area South Carolina Sea Islands