Mr. Fraser's Resort

Most visitors to Hilton Head Island would never believe that only fifty years ago this gorgeous resort community was home only to a scattering of houses, mostly owned by fishermen and farmers. Most could hardly visualize, Hilton Head consisting of large patches of cut over timber land, connected by barely passable roads of sand and mud. The majority of the land on Hilton Head, just fifty years ago, was owned by only a handful of families, most of whom considering the land more of a liability than an asset. Equally, most visitors to the island fifty years ago could scarcely visualize the Hilton Head as it is today.

Before the island began its rebirth it was considered too hot and too inaccessible to be much use. There wasn't any bridge and only a small ferry, capable of carrying just a handful of people and automobiles. Since most fabric dye was created synthetically, and the boll weevil had decimated cotton production, the island was no longer usable for the cultivation of Indigo or the superior long stemmed "sea isle" cotton that had sustained it from William Hilton's first visit in 1663 through colonial times, the civil war and the great depression. The island's last resource, Pine Timber, had been virtually depleted and the land was mostly used for hunting, until the late 1950's.

Charles Fraser, son of one of the families that owned hunting and timber land on Hilton Head, realized the islands true potential. With air conditioning, a bridge, faster and more reliable transportation, and President Eisenhower's interstate highway system just over the horizon, he began to envision and build the community we enjoy today. Fraser began planning and building his Resort in 1956; the same year the first bridge was completed. Eventually, Sea Pines would become a prototype resort community, copied all over the island and around the world. By 1967, the year construction at Harbour Town began, others visionaries and entrepreneurs had joined Fraser. Together, they created the resort island, which is today visited by more than two-million people yearly. By carefully planning development that not only respected nature but complimented it as well, Charles Fraser became the author of one of the most beautiful and popular resort destinations in the world.