Georgetown, SC Storyteller's Cabin
- The Gray Man Origin
Tiny Pawleys Island is located in the Tidelands of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Four miles long and a quarter mile wide at its widest point, Pawleys is one of the oldest beach resorts on the East Coast.
The island's namesakes, the Pawley family, were one of the rice plantation families from the nearby port city of Georgetown that regularly crossed deep Winyah Bay toward Pawleys in the early 1800s. Most were fleeing extreme heat and disease on the mainland. They were taken across the water by slave oarsman, who sang songs with ancient African harmonies like "Roll, Jordan, Roll" and "O, Zion" as they rowed. Once the families arrived on the island, the slaves would return with cooks, nurses and seamstresses from the mainland whenever their services were needed.
These plantation families built fine, sturdy homes on the island made out of heavy hand-hewn lumber. A distinctive Pawleys style emerged, featuring homes with gabled roofs and around-the-house porches. Some of these homes were so well made that they remain standing to this day, despite years of harsh tropical storms.
The South's devastating defeat in the Civil War hit Georgetown County hard, as plantation owners were stripped of their fortunes. Whatever cultivable fields were left were mostly destroyed by hurricanes. Despite the hardships, however, many families kept their homes on Pawleys Island. Many of these homes are still occupied by third, fourth or fifth generations of these plantation families.
Tropical storms always play a violent role in the history of an island, and for tiny Pawleys Island, they were particularly devastating. Houses were carried out to sea, sand dunes were flattened, and entire families were swallowed up by the rampaging waters. Hurricane Hazel in 1954 destroyed almost every new home built on the island since World War II. But due to the advent of a hurricane warning system, no fatalities resulted from Hazel.
Most of the picturesque old homes were sturdy enough to weather these storms, and today help give Pawleys Island its unique charm. Unlike its neighboring resort islands, parts of Pawleys have changed little since the 1700s, leading some to call it "arrogantly shabby." Life on Pawleys operates at a slow and leisurely pace. Swimming, sunning and fishing are the main activities of the day. Night life consists of eating fresh, mouth-watering seafood at one of their fine restaurants. Pawleys is especially famous for its distinctive rope and cord hammocks, handmade by local crafts folk since 1880.
But Pawleys's most famous attraction is the one rarely seen: The Gray Man, the island's resident ghost. There are many stories about how he came to wander the lonely beaches during hurricane season - our story is just one of them. But many visitors probably hope that this is one local attraction that will stay in hiding. For his appearance can only mean one thing: vacation time is over!
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