Mapping Recovery: The 1893 Hurricane and Black Sea Island Communities

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The Sea Islands: A Photo Gallery

Ferry boat at the Halls Island landing, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1890s - early 1900s, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

Ferry boat at the Halls Island landing, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

The isolation and remoteness experienced by the residents of the sea islands near Beaufort, South Carolina, are well captured in two archival photograph collections from the turn of the century: Phosphate, Farms, and Family—The Donner Collection and The Penn School Papers, 1862-2005.

With water a familiar, even if not always welcome, part of the landscape, the photos convey the difficulty of transporting people and goods. When roads were passable on the islands, residents' primary source of transportation was animal-drawn carts or walking. To move from island to island or from island to mainland, their primary source of transportation was small ferry boats. Most of the featured photographs were taken in the years following the storm, late 1890s and early 1900s, and it is therefore likely that many of the people in the photos are storm survivors.

(Left) A boy playing the flute, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Children riding a ferry boat, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, near Halls island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Boy playing the flute, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Children riding a ferry boat, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, near Halls island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

Rural home with family labeled "Uncle Abe's cabin," photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Chisolm Islands, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

Rural home with family labeled "Uncle Abe's cabin," photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Chisolm Islands, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Two men working a plow, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Young workers loading potatoes onto a wagon, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Two men working a plow, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Young workers loading potatoes onto a wagon, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Two people carrying bushel baskets filled with asparagus crops, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Women and children outside of a home, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Two people carrying bushel baskets filled with asparagus crops, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Women and children outside of a home, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

Sea Island woman standing on road near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sea Island woman standing on road near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rice canal near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rice canal near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of road near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of road near Frogmore, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Farm near Yemassee, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Farm near Yemassee, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Woods near Yemassee, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Woods near Yemassee, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Man riding ox cart down Sea Island road, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Man riding ox cart down Sea Island road, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ferries: View of the ferry in Beaufort, South Carolina, 1899, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; View of Ladies Island ferry, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

(Left) View of the ferry in Beaufort, South Carolina, 1899, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Right) View of Ladies Island ferry, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of road leading to Sea Island cabins, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of road leading to Sea Island cabins, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of St. Helena Island marshland, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1899, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of river and marshland on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of river on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

View of river on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1902, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

(Left) Two men on Halls Island, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Lowcountry landscape in the vicinity of Yemassee, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Two men on Halls Island, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Lowcountry landscape in the vicinity of Yemassee, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

Women and child standing alongside a road, South Carolina, circa 1900, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Women and child standing alongside a road, South Carolina, circa 1900, courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

(Left) Men ditching, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Man unloading boards from a ferry boat, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.

(Left) Men ditching, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library. (Right) Man unloading boards from a ferry boat, photograph by Conrad Munro Donner, Halls Island, circa 1900, courtesy of the Beaufort County Library.