Edisto Beach, South Carolina Real Estate

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Both Edisto Beach and Edisto Island are located on the southern tip of Edisto Island and is part of Colleton County, while the rest of Edisto Island is part of Charleston County.  Edisto Island is just 45 minutes south of Charleston, South Carolina. Instead of amusement parks and traffic lights, you will find the perfect place to come for fishing, crabbing and shrimping, watching dolphins, birds and sunsets, collecting treasures from the sea, and renewing relationships with family and friends or just dipping your toes in the surf and building a sandcastle.  Edisto is the perfect combination of oceanfront beaches, saltwater marshes and Lowcountry oaks dripping with Spanish moss.  A year-round temperate climate provides for excellent outdoor recreational opportunities.  Edisto enjoys a moderate climate, with average summer temperatures in the 80's, and winter temperatures in the 50's-60's. The Atlantic has a large influence on the climate. It keeps the winters warmer and the summer's cooler than they would be otherwise.

Historic sites are also prevalent on the island.  Some sources state that Edisto was settled before Charleston, but no records prove or disprove this statement. Records do show that Edisto was purchased from the Edistow tribe of Indians by the Earl of Shaftsbury, one of the original Lord Proprietors, for some cloth, hatchets, beads and other goods in 1674. Rice and indigo were among the first crops planted; however, Sea Island Cotton became world famous. It is reliably stated that the Pope in Rome insisted that his garments be made of Edisto Island cotton.

The cotton industry brought great prosperity to the Island and many of the Plantation owners built magnificent homes and furnished them with the very best of furniture and books. Some of these Plantation homes are still standing. You may take a tour of the Island and view some of these magnificient homes.

Following the end of the War Between The States the cotton industry died and the Islanders started truck farming, shrimping and fishing. Today, tourism is also one of the largest industries on Edisto Island.

Resort development began on Edisto Beach in the 1920s when beachgoers had to time their arrival to coincide with low tide in order to cross the marsh areas by driving on beds of oyster shells. They then crossed over the dunes to the beach and drove along the ocean to their cottages which had no electricity or running water.

Development was slow in the early days and damage from a major hurricane in 1940 destroyed many of the existing homes. Following World War II, development on Edisto Beach began to increase.

Today the island has various local seafood restaurants, unique gift shops and historic sites that can’t be missed. The median household income is $68,056 based on the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.  Of the 291 people in the civilian labor force, 97.6 percent (284 people) and 2.4 percent (7 people) were unemployed.  There were a total of 329 household in Edisto Beach in 2000, with an average household sized of 2 people.