Isle of Palms Magazine Winter 2016-17

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West. Mrs. Wilbur Stough, from York, Pennsylvania,
couldn’t get over the friendliness of her fellow campers
– or the black fox squirrels, for whom she made extra
pancakes. The Stanhopes of Wisconsin were on their
way back home after watching the Masters in Augusta.
A married pair of graduate students at the University
of Delaware, the Hazels, were camping with their dog,
Perry, and two sons, Jeffrey and Jimmy.
“We think it’s just fabulous down here,” Mrs. Hazel
told Brown. “If this property were at home, it would be
full of homes. The land there is in such demand.”
The north end of Isle of Palms wasn’t in demand in
1970, but all that would change in the decade ahead.
Within 10 years, the campground would be built over
with condominiums, and the north side of the island
would be locked behind manned security gates.
The Fraser era
In June 1972, Henry Finch purchased the north end
of Isle of Palms from J.C. Long’s Beach Company for
just under $1 million. That December, the Sea Pines
Company of Hilton Head, fronted by Charles E. Fraser,
took a $4-million option on the land. Fraser professed
that before any development took place, he would first
offer the property to city, state and federal agencies with
the idea of turning it into a public park. However, if the
public agencies
didn’t make an
acceptable offer, the
Sea Pines Company
would develop a
“resort community
to be known as the
Charleston Beach
and Racquet Club.”
State Rep.
Arnold S.
Goodstein
proposed that the
state buy and preserve the north end of Isle of Palms,
along with Dewees and Capers Islands, but neither the
county, state nor feds came up with an offer. Even so,
development on IOP did not begin immediately. Many
Charleston County residents were concerned about the
land’s new owners. Though Fraser was a respected and
connected South Carolina native, his company, Sea Pines,
had just signed a 20-year contract with the Kuwaiti
Investment Company to manage the development of
pristine Kiawah Island. The nation was in the midst of
a recession, in part because of OPEC’s 1973-1974 oil
embargo, which had driven gas prices through the ceiling.
The idea of Kuwaiti sheiks buying a South Carolina sea
Henry Finch plays a game of tennis at
Wild Dunes.
Photo courtesy of Marge Sexton.
Photo courtesy of Marge Sexton.
Marge Sexton and Georgiana Young stand on the porch of Edgar’s Restaurant during the summer of 1981.