Point Of Pines Causeway #1 16 X 20"

The "Point of Pines" site bordering the North Edisto on Edisto Island is an ancient site of colonization and its first habitable structure was burned by the Spanish who thought that America belonged to their King , when the destiny of the New World was "up for grabs". Spanish must have been tipped off by spies that English settlers were setting themselves up out here and sailed in to eliminate the competition. These stubborn pioneers just rebuilt about 20 years later and prospered in the Edisto Island Wilderness. The second residence was destroyed but the "tabby" foundations persist and can still be viewed on the property.

Extensive cotton fields with "Sea Island Cotton" were intermingled with the tall pines this location has been named for for over 300 years. As most know, cotton uses up the soil, making property unusable so Cotton farming had to "move on" and the cultivation moved west. Rotation of crops helped some but the Edisto farmers sought other techniques. Before phosphate rock excavation began up on the Ashley River from the marl beneath the topsoil, Edisto farmers like the Townsends at Botany Bay were desalinating Pluff Mud which amply replenished the nutrients allowing continuous bountiful growth in their fields.

 Formerly one large tract, the Mitchell family owners split the property somewhat in half with one piece lining Ocella Creek and the other sitting on the southern edge of the North Edisto. On one property the third residence still stands but on the Ocella property, that house most recently burned to the ground with loss of some treasured family articles and maps.

This beautiful property is split by creeks and dammed reservoirs with causeways linking the parts. This picture is taken of such a causeway where a salt creek from the North Edisto reaches into the land, only to be crossed but connected on the other side by a contiguous reservoir landside. Fall colors are in play here at this time with yellow-green marsh grass contrasted against the dark water. 

 This is a 16 X 20" and weighs just over one pound.