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In many ways, Hilton Head remains much the same as its earliest beginnings. Yet, it has emerged to become a relaxed, easy-paced environment that is home to over 30,000 residents and considered the preferred vacation destination for over a million and a half visitors each year. The “modern” Hilton Head Island has existed for only a few decades.

Its development began in the fifties. The first bridge was erected in 1956. Vacationers come for the scenery as well as for the limitless attractions and recreational opportunities like the more than twenty championship golf courses and hundreds of tournament-quality tennis courts. Hilton Head Island as we know it today experienced a rebirth during the 1950s and beyond due to a man named Charles Fraser. He had inspiration to create an unprecedented resort community which would encompass uncommon beauty and spirit while preserving the land's inherent natural endowments.

With exactingly careful preparation, Fraser developed Sea Pines, the first planned island community. Since then, his same environmentally sound covenants have become effective guidelines for all subsequent development. (continue to page 5)