Isle Of Palms Magazine Summer/Fall 2018

23 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com M ayor Jimmy Carroll remembers a time when most people considered the Isle of Palms “too far out.” It was a remote destination when his parents chose the island – the last house before the island turned to woods at 37th Avenue – over the Navy’s suggestion of North Charleston or Goose Creek in 1959. Growing up, he felt like Opie of Mayberry. Though the island has changed, he has always loved it and raised his three sons here as well. Carroll and his mother started a real estate company in 1978 when interest rates were incredibly high. Admittedly not a great time for real estate, the Carrolls decided that if they could make it in the bad times, they could make it in the good times. Though Hurricane Hugo put them to the ultimate test, destroying all of the rental houses they managed, most homes on the island and their office, a newspaper headline in the aftermath said it all: “Destruction But Not Defeat.” The success of Carroll Realty is history, and Carroll has since sold his portion of the business to family members. Life is good for Carroll, who is planning an RV and motorcycle trip to explore America when he is finished being mayor of his hometown. But he won’t stay away for long: “My favorite thing about the Isle of Palms is that it’s home. Life is good here.” Photo by Jess Wood.