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Fripp Island and Harbor Island, South CarolinaPhoto: US Government · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Harbor Island

Half of Harbor Island’s homes were built after 1995

Most of Harbor Island was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: US Government · Public domain

What stands out about Harbor Island’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Harbor Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harbor Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harbor Island’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Harbor Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harbor Island.

Read it all →

The island was uninhabited and used primarily as hunting grounds until the 1930s, when US 21 was constructed to connect Saint Helena Island with Hunting Island. Development on Harbor Island remained scarce until The Fripp Company, developers of Fripp Island, purchased most of the land on the island and developed a gated residential and resort community. Small-scale commercial development exists along US 21.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Harbor Island

Nobody well known was born in Harbor Island itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Joe FrazierAmerican boxer · b. 1944
Robert SmallsAmerican politician and former slave · b. 1839
Candice GloverAmerican singer · b. 1989
C
Clementa C. PinckneyAmerican politician · b. 1973
Ryan HartmanAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1994
Stephen ElliottAmerican politician, botanist · b. 1771
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar Reef VillasNautical Watch Villas

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Harbor Island’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.