Museums & Historic Sites In Bluffton you’ll find a variety of accommodations to choose from. From select-service hotel brands you trust to the luxurious Palmetto Bluff Resort, you’ll be greeted with a friendly smile and warm Southern hospitality. The select service hotels are located along Highway 278, the corridor to Hilton Head Island, and are within short distance to shopping, dining, the Old Town district and the beaches of Hilton Head Island. The charming Inn at Palmetto Bluff is a private, secluded resort situated on the May River and offers spa, golf and other amenities. Palmetto Bluff was recently named Travel & Leisure Magazine’s 2009 #1 Resort in U.S. & Canada. Old Town Bluffton has a remarkable account to give of the Civil War, Gullah and African American history and even native Indian history. Learn about this riverfront community’s important place in history through a tour of the historic district’s museums and historic sites. The Heyward House Historic CenterYour first stop should be the Heyward House Historic Center – a museum and welcome center located in the heart of Bluffton’s National Register Historic District at 70 Boundary Street. The Heyward House is open to the public and offers docent guided tours Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 .pm. The tour cost is $5 for adults, $2 for students and free for children under 10 (must be accompanied by an adult.) The tour time is approximately 30 minutes. The Heyward House, built CIRCA 1840, was a summer home for a local plantation owner and is one of only eight antebellum homes remaining in Old Town Bluffton. The Heyward House site, with its original slave cabin and summer kitchen, is named for the Heyward family who owned the home from the early 1880s until the late 1990s. The house demonstrates a home that has been virtually untouched by time. Because of its well-preserved condition, the Heyward House is now an Official Project of the Save America's Treasures Program, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Also of note is the Caldwell Archive, one of the largest collections of archival resource materials in the state overseen by the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society and can be viewed by appointment. The Church of the CrossConsidered one of Old Town Bluffton’s historic landmarks and listed with The National Register of Historic Places since 1975, The Church of the Cross is perched on the May River at 60 Calhoun Street. Free docent guided tours are offered Monday – Saturday 11am-2pm. Passing through the heavy pine front doors of The Church of the Cross feels like a step back in time. It’s easy to imagine the summer congregation of island planters beginning June Sundays with worship. Episcopal services on “The Bluff” of the May River first took place in the early 1830s. In July of 1857, the present building was consecrated. Architect E. B. White designed a structure described then as a “handsome cruciform Gothic building”, which remains today. Fanned arches with a look of palmettos top its mullioned windows that are framed by latticed shutters. The builders sent to England for the rose-colored glass in the windows. Inside, soft-pink scored plaster enhances the warm light. Exposed pine timbers evoked power and stability for the time. In 1863, Federal troops marched into Bluffton burning most of the town. The church was spared. The church bell was taken to be melted for ammunition, but was recovered and now rings in worship services today. |
