Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2021

58 www. ReadMPM. com | www. VOICE forRea l Es tate. com | www.MountPl easantBu i lder s . com Hall up to Copahee Sound. When the Union blockaded the harbor, blockade runners dropped off their cargo at Bull’s Bay for pick-up. Confederate dead were laid to rest at a small cemetery on Carr Street. A monument honoring local soldiers who died during the War of 1812 was later added. After the Civil War, a public cemetery called Ocean Grove was established, with Hallelujah Lane separating the graves by race. Three Black churches — Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian — were organized. Laing School was founded by Quakers from Philadelphia, who paid teachers’ salaries until Laing became part of the public school system in 1940. Mount Pleasant Academy had been in operation since 1809, funded through a bequest from Elizabeth Fleming, whose will stipulated the money for the purpose of educating poor white children. The Academy was housed at various locations until 1895, when it moved into the vacant court house. The building’s former prisoner lock-up was used to punish misbehaving students. The post-Civil War economy demanded new business enterprises. A tile factory and brick factory were in operation at Shem Creek by 1883, and an oyster factory not long after. A number of stores, owned mostly by German families, sprang up near Ferry Street. Businesses also tried to garner income from tourism. A hotel opened in the village in 1878 — an attempt to attract northerners during the winter — and the town boasted “all the attractions of Cape May, Aiken and Jacksonville.” With frequent dances, picnics and sailing parties, an 1892 newspaper article proclaimed that the allure of Mount Pleasant rivaled the famous New Brighton Hotel on Sullivan’s Island. But locals seldom traveled more than 20 miles from home. Farmland still dominated the landscape. Many landowners chose to live in the village and commute daily to their farms, since the village afforded a full social life. The St. George and British Masonic Halls were Oliver Hilliard and Charles Jugnot. A brick boundary marker, known as Hort’s Pillar, was located near the corner of Bay Street and McCants Drive to separate the communities of Hilliardsville and Mount Pleasant, although local legend ascribes that the marker was erected in memory of two lovers, whose union led to a tragic end. A public picnic ground, complete with swings and a carousel and known as Alhambra Park, was also established, and regular ferry service was added. Hilliardsville was annexed to Mount Pleasant in 1858. Since 1835, the area bordered by Shem Creek, Hibben, Boundary and Bennett Streets had been known as Lucasville, named for Jonathan Lucas, who built the area’s first water-driven rice and saw mills at Shem Creek 40 years earlier. Lucasville joined the town of Mount Pleasant after the Civil War. In the fall of 1860, a public meeting was held in Ronkin’s Tavern, where attendees determined that Lincoln’s election as president was “sufficient cause” for secession. This may have been the first secession meeting in the state — even before the state’s official convention took place in downtown Charleston that December. Three years later, the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley lodged at Ronkin’s Tavern while preparing for their secret mission from Breach Inlet. During the war, a small battery was built in the village, and Fort Palmetto was established at Dewees Creek. A defense was also constructed from Elliott’s Creek at Boone history The Darby Bu i ld i ng ser ved as the count y cour thouse when Mount Pl easant was the seat of Ber ke l ey Count y f rom 1882 to 1895 .