About Us > South
Carolina Maritime Heritage
Considering the large number of ships built in
South Carolina and the high traffic hub of commerce and maritime
trade since its settlement in 1670, it is unusual that the there
are almost no records and illustrations of the state’s rich
maritime past. Our museums are decorated with artifacts and knowledge
of the Lowcountry’s past, the
Civil War, agriculture and even an immense display of Egyptian history.
However, there is no place for children or adults to learn about
the small vessels that ventured here with Spanish, English and French
explorers aboard. What did those ships look like? Where were they
built? What did they carry? How did the ships evolve and who was
involved? How did we arrive to this day, when trade pumps $23 billion
into the state economy and we house the 4 th largest post in the
U.S.?
Finding the remains of South Carolina’s maritime past is an
arduous and nearly impossible task, which is a great disservice to
the people and organizations that made South Carolina what she is
today.
From the heyday of European expansion under sail to the introduction
of steam power in warships, South Carolina was a critical hub of
maritime trade and development. Maritime commerce has boomed and
lulled over the last three centuries; however the ports of South
Carolina have always been a place where goods were brought to ships
for delivery elsewhere and where incoming goods arrived for sale
or distribution on land. South Carolina was very much a part of the
fabric of the British Empire as a result of her trade.
P.C. Coker’s book Charleston 's Maritime Heritage, 1670-1865
captures a critical mass of missing maritime history. In the Foreword
he explains:
While we live in a revolutionary age of computer technology
and space exploration, the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
equivalent was the sailing ship, and especially the sailing warship.
These were the most complex instruments of man’s industrial
development until the railroad, or its nautical equivalent, the
steamship. Nothing that man built in widespread use prior to this
time was as complex and as expensive as the sailing ship. There
is no better key to the creativity of man’s industrial fabric.
As you will discover in exploring this website, the Spirit of South
Carolina will embrace the maritime past of South Carolina as her
lines reflect the Frances Elizabeth, a pilot schooner which
sailed the southeastern coast in the late 1800’s. SCMF is also
devoted to using traditional methods of building, with various hard
woods, bronze fasteners and riveting. She will be a reflection of the
pride and craftsmanship that our ancestors once held as they launched
ships along the South Carolina coast for transport, trade and pleasure.
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