Saint Helena Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Water — A Way Home, A Way of Life

— Reconstruction Era National Historical Park —

Photographed by Benjamin Rubin, May 30, 2026

1. Water — A Way Home, A Way of Life Marker

Inscription. Daily tides surge the marshes with saltwater, teeming with life from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Shrimp, fish, crabs, and oysters serve as a foundation for Gullah food, while the marsh grasses provide for generations of basketmakers. In an era before bridges and development, the marshes were the highways of the Lowcountry, bringing students to and from Penn School. For many, these waters provide a physical connection back to the land of their ancestors - Africa.

Before bridges connected the Sea Islands to the mainlands, people used flat bottomed boats called bateaus to travel back and forth across the marshes. In the late 1800s, students who travelled to Penn School by boat were known as Faraways.

Samuel Polite (1844-1944) demonstrates to a young Penn School student how to make a cast net and live off the water. For over two hundred years, Gullah people have relied on the marsh and water for food and transportation. In recent years, climate change has threatened this way of life, as some staples like blue crab are not as plentiful as they once were.

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

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• Education • Environment.

Location. 32° 23.254′ N, 80° 34.866′ W. Marker is on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, in Beaufort County. It is on Holland Court west of Dr Martin Luther King Jr Drive, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 19 Holland Ct, Saint Helena Island SC 29920, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Lowcountry

and on the Sea Islands.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Trailblazers at Penn Center National Historic Landmark District (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); A Relic of Reconstruction: Darrah Hall (approx. 0.2 miles away); Dawn of a Revolution: The Penn School (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Great Sea Island Storm (approx. ¼ mile away); In Honor Of Edith M. Dabbs and James McBride Dabbs (approx. ¼ mile away); Penn School (approx. ¼ mile away); Chapel of Ease (approx. 0.9 miles away); Lady's Island Oyster Factory (approx. 4.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Saint Helena Island.

Also see . . .
1. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. National Park Service (Submitted on June 15, 2026.)

2. Penn Center. The first school in the South for formerly enslaved West

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Africans. (Submitted on June 15, 2026.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 31, 2026, by Benjamin Rubin of Columbia, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photo 1. submitted on May 31, 2026, by Benjamin Rubin of Columbia, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.