Share By Stratton Lawrence February 26, 2021
Hilton Head s 12 miles of beaches and slow pace of life have drawn families and travelers for decades. Two dozen golf courses weave through the island s 25,000 acres, including the internationally renowned Harbour Town Golf Links. Balmy, breezy weather makes it a haven for world-class tennis and excellent inshore fishing, while an island-wide network of paved trails makes it possible to travel the island from end to end via bicycle.
Before 1956, when the first bridge opened, Hilton Head was a sleepy Southern island. It takes its name from Captain William Hilton, who claimed it for the British crown in 1663. Hundreds of enslaved people toiled on the island s cotton and rice plantations before Union soldiers liberated them in 1861, leading to a century of Gullah-Geechee culture. In the 1960s, the island saw the rapid expansion of tourist infr