Marker unveiling, historical presentations, anniversary celebration will commemorate five centuries since Santa Elena appeared on European maps
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Five hundred years ago this month, two Spanish ships entered what is now Port Royal Sound and placed names on European charts that remain part of the Lowcountry today.
On Aug. 18, 1526, “Rio de Santa Elena” and “Cabo de Santa Elena” appeared on European charts. Five centuries later, the Beaufort County Historical Society is preparing to commemorate the anniversary with a series of events Aug. 18 and Aug. 20 highlighting Santa Elena and Beaufort County’s 16th-century history.
The commemoration will begin Tuesday morning at the Santa Elena National Historic Landmark on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island with the unveiling of an updated historical marker interpreting the site’s 16th-century history.
The Beaufort County Historical Society is organizing the ceremony in collaboration with the Town of Port Royal.
“On 18 August, our home will commemorate 500 years of documented European presence … older than Plymouth Rock, Jamestown, and even Saint Augustine,” event coordinator Christopher Allen, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel, said. “None of these places will tell our story for us, so it’s up to us.”
Five centuries of Santa Elena
The Aug. 18 anniversary traces back to the arrival of the two Spanish ships in present-day Port Royal Sound in 1526.
According to the Historical Society, “Santa Elena,” which became the source of the English name “Saint Helena,” stands with “La Florida” among the oldest European place names in continuous use in what is now the United States.
Santa Elena later became far more than a name on a map.
The Spanish established a settlement on what is now Parris Island in 1566, and Santa Elena became the capital of Spanish La Florida and a center for Spanish exploration, settlement and Catholic missions across a large portion of what is now the southeastern United States.
The settlement was ultimately abandoned in 1587.
Today, the Santa Elena site, located near the Legends Golf Course on Parris Island, is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Archaeological work at the site continues, contributing to historians’ understanding of Spanish and French colonial presence in the Lowcountry and its role in the larger history of North America.
The Historical Society hopes the 500th anniversary will bring greater attention to a part of Beaufort County’s history that remains relatively little known outside the area.
Marker unveiling Aug. 18
The commemoration ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. Aug. 18 at the Santa Elena National Historic Landmark.
The ceremony will include a Beaufort County proclamation and the unveiling of the updated historical marker, along with remarks from historians Larry Rowland and Chester DePratter.
Representatives from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Town of Port Royal are also expected to speak. A group photograph will follow.
An optional no-host buffet lunch will be available at Traditions on Parris Island beginning at approximately 11:45 a.m. The Historical Society is also encouraging visitors to stop at the Parris Island Museum following lunch.
Because the Santa Elena site is aboard the Marine Corps installation, access to the event is controlled.
Those without Department of Defense credentials who have not already been pre-cleared should arrive at the Parris Island gate no later than 10:30 a.m. and tell the gate guard they are attending a museum event at the Santa Elena site. Visitors should be prepared to present valid identification, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.
Organizers recommend allowing additional time for security processing and approximately 15 minutes to travel from the gate to the Santa Elena site.
Celebration continues on Hilton Head
The anniversary celebration will continue that afternoon at the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s Hilton Head Island campus.
The “500th Anniversary Celebration of European Presence in S.C.” will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the campus, 1 Sand Shark Drive.
The free program will feature three presentations examining Santa Elena’s history and legacy.
Allen will present “The Naming of Santa Elena,” followed by Rowland with “Beaufort’s 16th Century History.”
Rex Garniewicz will discuss future plans for a Santa Elena exhibit at the Coastal Discovery Museum.
The program will also include the presentation of the Town of Hilton Head Island’s 500th anniversary proclamation and comments from representatives of the town and the Santa Elena Heritage Foundation.
Seating for the afternoon program is limited to 100 people, and advance registration is required.
‘Beaufort BEFORE Britain’
Anniversary programs will continue Thursday, Aug. 20, with “500 Years of Santa Elena; Beaufort BEFORE Britain” at the Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road.
The free presentation, scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m., will explore how the Beaufort area came to appear on European New World charts beginning in 1526 and the history that followed.
Allen will lead the presentation.
A 1980 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Allen earned master’s degrees in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and National War College. He has served as a Beaufort History Museum docent, a member of the Santa Elena Foundation Board of Directors and a National Park Service ranger at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. He currently serves on the Beaufort County Historical Society board.
The events mark five centuries since Santa Elena first entered the documented European record, beginning a history that predates the founding of Jamestown and Plymouth and reaches back decades before the Spanish established their settlement on Parris Island.
Five hundred years later, Santa Elena remains not only part of Beaufort County’s past, but in the names, landmarks and history of the Lowcountry today.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.