Lately the land trust has prioritized the protection of the island’s cultural heritage, initiating the restoration of the Hutchinson House, located just a mile or so down Point of Pines Road from the Bailey House and the Bailey Store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Named for its builder and first owner, Henry Hutchinson, the house is one of the oldest surviving Freedman’s homes on Edisto Island, constructed circa 1885. The land trust plans to open Edisto’s first historic house museum here in the fall of 2026, providing lessons to visitors about 19th century life on Edisto Island, when upheaval caused by the Civil War spurred many Whites to flee the island and allowed for the emancipation of enslaved Blacks.
“There’s a real desire to see historic homes on the island,” said Clarke, who mentioned that tickets for tours of old homes on Edisto sell out almost as soon as they go on sale.
The second floor of the Bailey house on Edisto Island.
As the work wraps up on the Hutchinson House — a one-story home with a wraparound porch freshly painted in green with white trim — craftsmen hired by the trust will turn their attention to the two newly-acquired buildings, both of which are more than 200 years old.
At the Bailey House, the land trust staff will have the use of three floors as well as front and rear porches. Among its attractive features are a handful of fireplaces and some remarkably wide wooden floorboards and pieces of wall paneling.
The Bailey family lived in the house in the 1920s, according to the land trust, but the structure was built much earlier, about 1799. It functioned as both a store and residence. At that time, explained Girault, Store Creek was the commercial core of the island, as boats would travel up the creek to deliver goods, especially larger cargo.
In the 19th century the main road on the island, now S.C. 174, curved east at the Bailey House and jogged along Store Creek as it headed toward Edingsville, a small resort community of cottages built on the beach.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
