The island's original inhabitants were the
Sewee tribe. During the
Civil War, the
Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley departed from Breach Inlet, between Isle of Palms and neighboring
Sullivan's Island. In the late nineteenth century, local residents began using the island as a vacation spot. At that time it was only accessible by ferry. It was bought by J.S. Lawrence in 1899, who gave the island its current name; before then it was known as "Hunting Island" or "Long Island". A 50-room hotel was built in 1906. In 1912, James Sottile had a beach pavilion and an
amusement park built, and a trolley line was constructed from
Mount Pleasant on the mainland to Isle of Palms via Sullivan's Island. In 1929,
Grace Memorial Bridge was built between Charleston and Mount Pleasant to allow automobile traffic to reach the island. Large-scale residential development began when J.C. Long bought up most of the island and built low-cost housing for World War II
veterans. In 1975, the
Sea Pines Company (of
Hilton Head Island fame) established the development now known as the
Wild Dunes Beach and Racquet Club.
E. Lee Spence, a pioneer underwater archaeologist and prolific author of books and articles about shipwrecks and sunken treasure, discovered, with the help of Isle of Palms residents Wally Shaffer and George Campsen, many shipwrecks along the shores of the Isle of Palms in the 1960s. Their discoveries included the Civil War blockade runners
Rattlesnake,
Stonewall Jackson,
Mary Bowers,
Constance,
Norseman and
Georgiana. The iron-hulled steamer
Georgiana, which was sunk on her maiden voyage, was described in contemporary documents as pierced for 14 guns and more powerful than the famous Confederate cruiser
Alabama. These historic discoveries resulted in the passage of South Carolina's Underwater Antiquities Act allowing the archaeological salvage of shipwrecks. During
Hurricane Hugo, which struck September 21, 1989, much of the island was flooded by the
storm surge. The northeastern end of the Isle of Palms, home to Wild Dunes private community, endured a severe erosion crisis when a shoal caused sand to wash away from the foundation of a large condominium building. The city undertook a controversial beach restoration project in the spring and summer of 2008 which replenished the beach with dredged sand and saved the threatened structures. In March 2015, Doris Spann Argoe, an Isle of Palms resident, was charged with murder in the shooting death of her husband, Jonathan Argoe, at their home on 24th Avenue. Argoe admitted to shooting her husband during an argument and cutting herself to stage a self-defense claim. In February 2019, it was reported that the city's police force was undergoing a crisis following several resignations. On April 7, 2023, 6 people were injured in a mass shooting.
County parks The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) operates numerous facilities within Charleston County including Isle of Palms County Park. Marinas and boat landings: • Cooper River Marina • Multiple county-wide boat landings ==See also==