HISTORY - NATIVE AMERICAN & COLONIAL
In 1680, Irish and English settlers arrived under the leadership of Captain Florence O'Sullivan. The Algonquin-speaking Sewee Native Americans occupied the East Cooper area when they arrived. Today, some street names in old Mount Pleasant reflect this heritage. On the earliest known map of this area, Mt. Pleasant was called “Old Woman’s Point” and “North Point.” In 1696, 51 new settlers called Congregationalists arrived. Some were fleeing the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. Each family was allotted several hundred acres of land (Christ Church Parish) between the Wando River, Awendaw Creek, and the Atlantic Ocean. in 1770, Andrew Hibben bought land on the south side of Shem Creek and opened Hibben’s Ferry - the first ferryboat service to connect Haddrell’s Point, the area between Shem Creek and the cove at Pitt Street, to Charleston. Later, Haddrell’s Point was called the village of Mount Pleasant. But then, the region was known as the Province of Carolina. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Carolinians withstood many Spanish and French attacks.
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