ISLE OF PALMS

The Seewee Indians were the first known settlers of the Isle of Palms. The Seewees were said to have greeted English settlers by swimming to the boats and carrying people to shore. The Seewees tried to reach England in canoes, but were decimated by storms at sea. No one lived on the island for many years, but story has it that huge treasures of silver and gold are buried deep in the ocean from pirate days. During the Revolution a force of 2,500 British soldiers were camped on the island on what is now known as front beach. The Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel was lost at sea and was discovered in 1996 off shore. The island did not see direct action from the War Between the States. The island was first named Hunting Island, then Long Island, and in 1899 J. S. Lawrence bought the island and renamed it Isle of Palms. Bridges were built from the mainland and trolley cars made the crossing from Charleston. In 1906, a resort hotel with 50 rooms was opened. In 1912, James Sottile built a spacious pavilion and a huge ferris wheel with cage-like seats. The opening of the Cooper River Bridge in 1929, made the island even more accessible, but it wasn't until 1944 that the island began developing.

Isle of Palms Baptist Church was a mission church of Sullivan's Island Baptist Church.

The "New Post Chapel" at 1753 Central Avenue was a simple frame building with asbestos siding, constructed in 1944 as part of the World War II-era expansion of Fort Moultrie. With the deactivation of the fort in 1947, the Army no longer conducted services in either Post Chapel. On 1 July 1948, the War Assets Administration rented the New Post Chapel (or Fort Moultrie Chapel) to the Sullivan's Island Baptist Church, founded that year with 75 members. The church purchased the structure in late 1949 for $4,500 and acquired a Pastorlum nearby in 1951. Between 1949 and 1953, the church bought one of two long wings that made up the Army

nurses' barracks, located across the street at 1739 Middle Street, and attached it to the sanctuary to use as a Sunday School building. In 1953, the large 50,000-gallon cistern behind the church was connected to it and converted for office space. The Keros property on Pettigrew Street was acquired in 1950, and is used as a youth department. The Sullivan's Island Baptist Church has continued to expand, and remodeled the church building in 1965 (adding brick veneer and a portico) and 1975 (completely reworking the interior). New rooms were added atop the cistern between 1985 and 1986.