Hispanic Heritage of Beaufort District

A century before the Mayflower made its Plymouth Rock landfall, Spaniards were plying our coastal waters. "Santa Elena", or its English derivation of "Saint Helena", is America's third oldest European place name in continuous use. Beaufort District drove European strategic thinking about the New World during America's first European century on account of the importance of the Santa Elena settlement and as the launching base for the Juan Pardo Expeditions into the southeastern interior.

In the shadow of Columbus and predating Jamestown by almost 90 years, you'll find "Santa Elena" on rare Italian, Spanish, and French charts from the 15th and 16th Century.  Look as hard as you want, but you will not find Boston, New York, Charleston, or Saint Augustine ... but you will see Santa Elena  prominently annotated. In other words, Beaufort District has one of the longest Spanish histories in North America. We created a bibliography about the "Spanish Heritage of Beaufort District" to help you learn more about this area's earliest European colonial period, the 16th century.

Among the Hispanic Heritage related materials mentioned in the bibliography are:

The European Struggle to Settle North America: Colonizing Attempts by England, France and Spain by Margaret Pickett and Dwayne Pickett examines why St. Augustine, Jamestown and Quebec succeeded while Santa Elena, among others, failed. 

Windows on the Atlantic: The Rise and Fall of Santa Elena, South Carolina's Spanish City by Lawrence S. Rowland explores the European rivalry in our area.   

By far the longest Beaufort County Historical Society Paper is BCHS #3 that covers "Spanish Explorations & Settlements" by Ruby C. Danner (1942). In fact, the narrative and notes are 78 leaves, followed by 5 appendices of supplemental information. Most of the BCHS Papers run between 20 and 30 pages in length.

Appendix A is an excerpt from "The First Discovery and Natural History of Florida" by William Roberts (1763); Appendix B is a discussion of "The River Jordan and Its Location," as it relates to the early explorations along the southeastern coast; Appendix C shares information about "Father Rogel and the Jesuits" abstracted from "The Romance of the Floridas" by Michael Kenny; Appendix D is "Copies of Documents," 1557 - 1580 translated from Spanish; and Appendix E is "Tracings and Notes on Early Cartography." It includes photostats of some early maps as well. Mrs. Danner certainly did some solid research for her time.

The BDC has a copy of the revised edition of The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568 by Charles M. Hudson (2005), too.

Leland Ferguson identifies the "first underground railroad" for escaped slaves as a route from South Carolina, across Georgia, to Florida for Spanish protection. In 1738 the Spanish governor gave land near St. Augustine to self-emancipated slaves. They created a town and fort, "Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose" - more commonly called "Mose" or "Fort Mose" to live in. BTW: "Mose" is a two syllable word pronounced MOH-Say. Read more in Ferguson's book Uncommon Ground: Archaeology and Early African America, 1650 - 1800. It's available in the BDC as well as other units of the BCL and SCLENDS.

I wrote "Spaniards (and one Cuban) in Beaufort District, 1521 - 1920" to discuss immigration of people from Spain and its Cuban colony into Beaufort District, particularly during the years 1850 - 1920. [All the links were active on 29 September 2025].

The final days of the Spanish Empire happened during the short war with Spain for Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines in 1898. Historical roster and itinerary of South Carolina volunteer troops who served in the late War between the United States and Spain, 1898: coupled with brief sketches of their movements from the beginning to the ending of the conflict was compiled and published by J.W. Floyd, adjutant and inspector general (1901). For those interested in learning more about the Spanish-American War, J.W. Floyd compiled details of every South Carolina Volunteer Troop along with sketches of their movements. The details include the soldiers’ name, age, place of residence and occupation, date of enrollment, date they mustered and the name of the company they served in. These characteristics combined with the detailed accounts of troop maneuvers can create a cohesive concept for readers. This title is available for checkout through the Beaufort County Library System.

There are some local traditional uses Spanish moss by Gullah people. Hoodoo Medicine by medical anthropologist Faith Mitchell describes uses for "Tillandsia usneoides" (AKA Spanish Moss, black moss, long moss, and old man's beard) that hangs down from many local trees. She mentions soaking Spanish Moss in water for an "invigorating bath." According to Gullah tradition, Spanish Moss tea can help lower blood pressure while Spanish Moss can wrap around the sprains or be mixed with clay and vinegar to help mend injured joints. (p. 74)

We have some vertical files related to Central and South Americans moving to Beaufort County and the effects of that immigration from the 1990s into the 2000s:

VF HISPANIC COMMUNITY

VF SCHOOLS - HISPANIC STUDENTS

VF ACERCAMIENTO HISPANO DE CAROLINA del SUR

VF BEAUFORT COUNTY LIBRARY - LIBRARY LATIN AMERICAN COUNCIL FOCUS GROUP

VF 1430 AM "RADIO SOL"

          VF MIGRANT WORKERS

          VF BELMAN, FRANCISCO (1987-2002)

We also have some back issues of the La Isla magazine to share inside the Research Room.