Edisto Island Museum

Edisto Island Museum The Edisto Island Museum is the place to visit if you want to learn more about the history of Edisto Island and the Lowcountry.

The Edisto Island Museum is the place to visit if you want to learn more about the history of Edisto Island and the surrounding area. We're located at the entrance to Middleton Plantation, 5.2 miles from the McKinley Washington Bridge. We're just past King's Farm Market on the right. In addition to numerous artifacts that tell Edisto's story, we also have a wonderful gift shop featuring a large va

riety of books about Edisto and the surrounding Lowcountry. We also have numerous books, puzzles and games for children as well as cookbooks featuring recipes that will allow you to recreate much of our local cuisine when you get back home. In addition, we feature beautiful handcrafted items made by many of our local artisans that will help you treasure and hold on to the memories you created here on Edisto. We do not charge any sales tax, so it's a great place to buy gifts for yourself or others. You can also shop through our website.

These are the John Jones paintings that are still available. Quite a few people asked for photos of them, so we're post...
04/29/2026

These are the John Jones paintings that are still available. Quite a few people asked for photos of them, so we're posting what we've got. It will be hard to choose which one you like best, but I will tell you two look great together. They are all $250 each, and we will ship (for a small fee).

04/27/2026

HERE IS THIS WEEK'S HISTORY NUGGET:



DID YOU KNOW…The Motown sound is closely associated with Detroit, but it also has roots here on Edisto Island. James Jamerson, who was born on Edisto in 1936, played bass on more than 70 number one Motown hits, including songs by Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye, among others. He was a key member of the Funk Brothers, who were studio musicians for the Motown label. Jamerson is regarded as one of the most influential bass players of all time. In 2023, the South Carolina General Assembly honored Jamerson by designating Steamboat Landing the “James Lee Jamerson Memorial Highway”on Edisto.



The Funk Brothers were never listed on records by name until Jamerson was credited for playing the bass on Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Here’s a little back story that you can think about the next time you hear that song. When Marvin was recording the song, he said he wanted James to play bass, but James was not in the studio at the time. So, Marvin sent someone to go get him and bring him to the studio. When James got there, he was so drunk he couldn’t sit on the stool to play. So, “What’s Going On” was recorded with James lying on the floor on his back and playing the bass with his usual style of using only his right index finger. It was a smash hit for Marvin Gaye. Paul McCartney of the Beatles cites Jamerson as having the biggest influence on him.



And, if you want to hear James playing in isolation, listen to the beginning of “My Girl” by the Temptations (click on the link below and skip the ad). It’s pure James, and it is one of the most well-known beginnings of a beloved song ever. Smokey Robinson, who wrote “My Girl,” said you could play that song in Italy where no-one speaks English, and everyone would know the song by the introductory notes. It’s true!



James Lee Jamerson died in 1983.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3KJ7d2qBoA

We are thrilled to let you know that we have just received some more beautiful paintings from John Jones. Here are thre...
04/23/2026

We are thrilled to let you know that we have just received some more beautiful paintings from John Jones. Here are three of them.

DID YOU KNOW...Dowsing is a practice using metal rods to locate unmarked graves, often employed by genealogists, archeol...
04/20/2026

DID YOU KNOW...Dowsing is a practice using metal rods to locate unmarked graves, often employed by genealogists, archeologists and cemetery researchers. It has been used several times here on Edisto and will be demonstrated during the upcoming Edisto & Beyond Tour on October 24th. We are including properties (called Sacred Grounds) where there are unmarked graves. Tour participants will be able to try their hands at dowsing, while respecting these graves and ensuring they are protected.

The FBI has determined it an “unproven method,” finding that it lacks scientific credibility. However, some believe it is an effective method for finding bodies, and it is included as part of some crime scene investigator training programs, including those provided to US government agencies.

Dowsing is simply based on detecting electromagnetism beneath the ground. There is a property in bones under pressure called piezoelectricity, which generates an electric field and that generates magnetism which has a resonance frequency. The metal dowsing rods work to find this magnetism to identify unmarked graves. Dowsers are also able to identify the s*x of the deceased.

On Edisto, this practice has been used on Cypress Trees Plantation, which will be on the tour. Thirty-seven graves have been identified. It has also been used to locate the Con Bailey Cemetery, which is located on property purchased by St. Francis Episcopal Church. In 2023, the method was used on Botany Bay Plantation to locate 16 unmarked graves. The graves were then confirmed by the SC Department of Natural Resources using the scientific method of ground penetrating radar.

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EIHPS Board member, Frank Burnett, helping Miss Lavinia Armstrong learn to use the dowsing rods. Miss Lavinia is a direct descendant of Samson Reed, who is the only marked grave in the Con Bailey Cemetery. Reed was born into slavery and served in the US Colored Corps during the Civil War.

04/14/2026

🚨 FOUND: Columbia, SC

Chocolate poodle with harness found by Columbia Place mall running from Two Notch Rd.

Not chipped.

➡️ Contact 803-908-9081 with proof of ownership to clam.

Dog is safe at Final Victory and on stray hold. If unclaimed after 5 days of searching for owner, we will check adoption applications for a good match. 🤎

So enjoyed having the Lawton family back on Edisto today for their family reunion. Their Edisto roots go way, way back.
04/14/2026

So enjoyed having the Lawton family back on Edisto today for their family reunion. Their Edisto roots go way, way back.

THIS WEEK'S HISTORY NUGGET:DID YOU KNOW….In the 1700s, the typical White family residence on Edisto Island was much diff...
04/13/2026

THIS WEEK'S HISTORY NUGGET:

DID YOU KNOW….In the 1700s, the typical White family residence on Edisto Island was much different than those that replaced them later. They usually were small, simple one-story frame houses. When planters amassed huge fortunes from Sea Island Cotton in the early 1800s, a time known as Edisto’s “Golden Age,” most of these simple homes were torn down and replaced with much larger, more impressive homes.

Only one house, originally called Four Chimneys and now known as Old House, still stands on Edisto from the pre-Revolutionary period. (see below). It should be considered without its columned porch and other Greek Revival elements to be able to appreciate its boxy simplicity that was in keeping with the colonial period. The imbellishments were added in the 1800s when new houses were being built in a much grander style to reflect the owners’ wealth.

However, there is one exception to this trend and that is Brick House (see below), which is known as America’s first manor house. It was a large, elegant house made of brick that was brought in from Boston, and it was by far the grandest house on the island in its day. The house burned in 1929, and the Brick House ruins remain in the Jenkins family. Work has been done to stabilize the ruins.

Who built Brick House is not known for certain, but it was most likely Paul Hamilton. He was the grandson of Paul Grimball, who was the first documented White settler on Edisto, arriving in 1683. The ruins of the Grimball house remain on the Point of Pines Plantation.


Old House Brick House

04/08/2026

Today I announced to our membership that I will be retiring at the first of 2027, marking 20 years with the Museum. Because I have been blessed with a great team of staff and volunteers, I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish during this time. I feel like I am leaving the Museum and the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society in a good place, and will be around to help in any way I can.

We will begin a search soon for a new director, so please get in touch if you are interested in the position or know of someone who might be. It’s a great job and lots of fun, so it is with mixed feelings that I am leaving, but it is time. Now, on to my next adventure.

DID YOU KNOW - SHELL RINGS....Edisto Island is home to several Native American shell rings (mounds and middens), which a...
04/07/2026

DID YOU KNOW - SHELL RINGS....Edisto Island is home to several Native American shell rings (mounds and middens), which are in serious danger from coastal erosion. We hear these terms, but many people don’t know the difference between a shell mound and a shell midden. They are similar, but not the same. Both were created by Native Americans more than 4,000 years ago.

A midden is essentially a pre-historic trash dump left by early Native Americans. A shell mound is a large, often intentionally built structure that is usually ceremonial or residential. While middens contain shells – typically oysters – they also contain other refuse. Mounds are cleaner piles of a densely packed accumulation of shells used by Native Americans to create a solid, elevated structure. Mounds are also generally larger and indicate long-term, repeated occupation of a specific location for generations.

Edisto is fortunate to have several examples of shell rings, although they are rapidly disappearing. Fig Island, which is just off Edisto Island, is home to a trio of huge shell middens, which are considered the largest and most complex shell rings on the southeastern Atlantic coast. Spanish Mount is located in the Edisto Beach State Park and is a 4,000 year old shell mound. Pockoy Island, located within the Botany Bay Wildlife Management Preserve, contained two shell middens. Fortunately, archeologists from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources were able to conduct several ongoing digs on this property before it completely disappeared, so some of the artifacts have been studied and preserved.

John Jones's art exhibit here at the Museum a few months ago was so popular that we decided to get him to let us have si...
04/03/2026

John Jones's art exhibit here at the Museum a few months ago was so popular that we decided to get him to let us have six new ones to display here in the gift shop. I just love his work and obviously others do too.

Address

8123 Chisolm Plantation Road
Edisto Island, SC
29438

Telephone

+18438691954

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