Anyone who knows me can attest that I am a huge history "buff". I have always collected anything old. Of course it all started with knives as a child like any southern country boy. My grandfather gave me my first one and I bet I have over 100 now. Not long after I got that first knife the same grandfather taught me how to mark corners on farms and read old surveys. I learned about chains and poles. And how to make a witness. All of this was educational but what really got me was how beautiful some of the old plats were. I started keeping a lot of them as a teenager. That was about the time my father bought his beach house on Edisto.
So I started searching for old Edisto plats. They were not very easy to find back then. With the help of Mr. David Lybrand, Marion Whaley, and Mr. Sandy Savage I got copies of some pretty rare plats. Mr. David also told me were to look to find others. By the time I got through college he was asking me what I had. I actually found the original Chaplin Garden Plantation plat which he included on the Edisto Plantations Map a few years ago. This was important because it had long been rumored that William Seabrook gave Lafayette a tract of land out of his large plantation. Lafayette visited Seabrook Plantation in 1825 and was asked to name William's new born daughter. He named her Carolina Lafayette. Mr. David had never been able to find a plat that showed this parcel named Chaplin Garden. I found it while researching a 32 acre parcel we were developing that adjoined Oak Island Plantation. So I am always looking and willing to help anybody get started. I will buy or trade, if anybody has any email me. chris@discoveredisto.com
Back to Edisto Beach. The huge barrier island that was to become the Town of Edisto Beach was developed in 1927. I have plats prior to that but they are not that interesting. Back then Edisto Beach was an over grown jungle that no one cared about. But, the first Edisto Beach lot plans were very pretty. Most of the plats, up to about 1950, have great detail, landmarks, and beautiful script. Also back then Edisto Beach was in Charleston County not Colleton. Which is why plats before the 1970s were hard to find.
Many Realtors spend lots of money for big bright custom logos designed by professional artists. They want their logo to "Pop". My grandfather would say "Fancy or Snazzy". I was headed right down that same path. Then I realized that is just not Edisto.
Edisto is plain and simple. Rich in history and natural beauty. It is the island that was left behind. Where life is slower and visitors can relax. So I decided to use some of my favorite Edisto Beach plats from 1927 to 1940 as inspiration for my new logo. So this is it and in the words of Forrest Gump, "That is all I have to say about that."
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