Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is long by almost wide – approximate surface area of (5,000 acres). With over of beachfront, Daufuskie is surrounded by the waters of Calibogue Sound, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. It was listed as a census-designated place in the 2020 census with a population of 557. Accessible only by ferry or barge, and with a full-time population of just over 400, Daufuskie Island contains environmental preserves, private communities, resorts, Gullah houses, diverse art galleries and history. The island was named a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places due to its Gullah and Civil War history. The island is also the setting of Pat Conroy's memoir The Water Is Wide recounting Conroy's experiences teaching on Daufuskie in the 1960s. History Daufuskie Island has been inhabited for thousands of years, as evidenced by ancient piles of discarded oyster shells exhibiting pottery shards from all phases of the hunter-gathering period. Prior to European arrival numerous Indian tribes inhabited the Lowcountry and islands. Culturally and linguistically these tribes were of Muskogean stock. Daufuskie comes from the Muscogee language and means "sharp feather", for the island's distinctive shape. As early as 1523, Spanish explorers were sailing the southeastern coast of North America in search of potential settlements. By 1565, the Spanish had settled in St. Augustine, Florida, and were pushing up the coast establishing and maintaining additional colonies. Concurrent with these 16th-century ambitions for settlement, the French also made attempts at colonization in South Carolina Lowcountry areas. By the mid-1600s the English began to explore the southern coast. Prosperous Caribbean planters sponsored several expeditions to South Carolina. Captain William Hilton and Robert Sandford both made voyages to Port Royal Sound and vicinity. In July 1666 Sanford entered Calibogue Sound between Hilton Head and Daufuskie. It was during this period of early exploration that Spanish settlers introduced their distinctive Iberian horses to the Southeastern coast. Today the descendants of these horses are known as "Carolina Marsh Tacky". These sturdy, intelligent horses are particularly well adapted to the swampy and marshy lowcountry region. Examples of this rare breed can still be found on Daufuskie. In 1684, Spanish soldiers enlisted the help of native warriors to fight Scottish settlers in Port Royal, and thus began the uneasy and difficult history of native entanglement in