While only a few of our residents are native South Carolinians, we have built a community enriched by people from across the country, each bringing a distinct heritage. The Colleton River and Lowcountry landscape form a living thread of American history, connecting the nation’s founding era through later national and global conflicts to this 2026 celebration.

 Our story begins in 1663, when King Charles II granted the Carolina charter to eight Lords Proprietors, including Sir John Colleton.  By the early 1700s, his descendants received land grants along the Colleton River and developed an area referred to as the land between two rivers, or sometimes called Devil’s Elbow Barony. By 1776- the very year of independence—the Bluffton Region and Colleton holdings stood at the crossroads of empire and revolution. Sir John Colleton sold several plantations to buyers who supported the Patriot cause. British forces responded harshly and, in 1779, burned many of the Colleton properties during raids on Port Royal Sound. Archaeological evidence confirms that the violence reached our community as two Revolutionary War cannonballs unearthed on our grounds now rest in the Dye Clubhouse history exhibit. They are alongside Native American artifacts and colonial farming tools, reminding us of this foundational chapter in the fight for independence.   

Slavery sustained the region’s economy until the Civil War, and our land did not escape its impact. In 1861, the war arrived with the Battle of Port Royal, the largest naval engagement of the Civil War, which made the area a key Union blockade base. 15,000 Union troops landed on Hilton Head Island, where they established a staging area that eventually grew to 50,000. Bluffton was burned to the ground. Today, from the Dye Clubhouse balcony overlooking Port Royal Sound, you can view a map showing the positions of the ships involved in the battle.

By the time the United States entered World War I, 140 years after 1776, the plantation economy had long since faded. The area had returned to a rural Lowcountry landscape of timberland, marshes, farms, and fishing communities, much like many other parts of the South. Local men answered the call to serve, but the region itself remained quiet, offering a natural refuge from the turmoil of war. It changed little through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. That began to shift during the two World Wars. In 1915, the nation established a Marine Corps recruiting and training base at Parris Island, which played a significant role in both wars. Even today, across Port Royal Sound, when the wind is right, we can hear the distant sounds of Marines training on the rifle range. To me, it is the sound of freedom. I feel the same on late afternoons when F-35 fighter aircraft pass overhead on their return to their base near Beaufort. Though brief, these sounds remind us of the sacrifices made by so many in this region to defend the independence we have preserved for 250 years.

Throughout the mid-20th century, our land remained largely undeveloped and preserved by its natural barriers of water and marsh. However, the post-WW II economic and late 20th century prosperity boom transformed the broader Hilton Head/Bluffton region into a tourism and residential destination—yet Colleton River’s 1,500-acre peninsula bordering the 1,100-acre Victoria Bluff Nature Preserve remained a sportsman’s paradise. 

In 1990, visionary founders conceived the Colleton River Club and began its development. Today it has two clubhouses with world-class golf courses, a tennis arena and pickleball courts, swimming, boating, fishing, a premier athletic center, a state-of-the-art golf training complex, and too many clubs and other amenities to fully mention. The Club became fully member-owned in 2008, transforming our historic grounds into a low-density private community while deliberately preserving its natural beauty and heritage.

Amid live oaks and tidal creeks, the Colleton River Club now embodies America’s layered journey, from royal grants and revolutionary battles, through slavery and civil war, to emancipation and economic reinvention. We stand as a thoughtful reminder of continuity: the same ground that witnessed Revolutionary cannon fire and Civil War clashes, quietly supported our nation’s international wars, and remains a private rural masterpiece. We are truly fortunate to live in a community that has preserved much of the peninsula’s marshes, forests, and artifacts while still delivering world-class amenities and a storied history. 

Truly, 2026 is a momentous year to celebrate the 250-year journey of both our nation and Colleton River Club.

- Dan Brown