Edisto Realty News
SCDNR Aquires Historic Botany Bay
Aug 9th, 2008With little fanfare, in 1977 South Carolina received one of the most beautiful gifts in its history.
The public only now is discovering what was wrapped in that big bow — 4,630 coastal acres with moss-draped live oaks, sunflower-filled farm fields, an expansive lake, the ruins of an 1800s plantation house and slave quarters, a couple of exquisite, intact 1840s outbuildings and two miles of beach.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources opened Botany Bay Plantation to the public July 1, more than 31 years after it was given to the state.
The long delay hearkens to the original gift from a wealthy Birmingham, Ala., philanthropist who wanted to protect a place rich in wildlife and history. But he also wanted to ensure that if he died before his wife, she could continue living at a place she loved as much as he did.
When John E. Meyer died Jan. 1, 1977, at age 58, his will bequeathed Botany Bay to the state as a wildlife preserve. Meyer built his fortune in the hotel industry, and his real estate holdings included not only Botany Bay, in Charleston County, but also White Hall Plantation near Green Pond, in Colleton County, and an 800-acre farm in Connecticut.
Meyer donated Botany Bay to the state in part to settle a permit violation he faced after building a dike on the property, said John Frampton, director of the Department of Natural Resources. A man as wealthy as Meyer easily could have paid the fine. He and his wife, Margaret Morgan Meyer, had been considering setting aside the property as a wildlife preserve anyway, according to Grace Whitman, Margaret Meyer’s daughter from a previous marriage.
Such a move wasn’t out of character for John Meyer. His obituary in a Birmingham newspaper described him as “the greatest single benefactor” to Birmingham cultural and health organizations. A library at the University of Alabama Birmingham bears his name. His art collection went to the Birmingham Museum of Art.
The gift of Botany Bay was a little more complicated. A supplement in Meyer’s will gave his wife access to and control of the homes and the cultivated fields at Botany Bay for the remainder of her life.
In March 1977, the State Budget and Control Board approved an agreement allowing Margaret Meyer to have the run of the entire 4,630 acres as long as she made improvements in the property in excess of $50,000.
That ended up being a sweetheart deal — for South Carolina.
Later remarried, Margaret Pepper “pumped hundreds of thousands of her money into making Botany Bay the treasure it is today,” Whitman, her daughter, said.
She preserved the island’s natural integrity, while clearing undergrowth and ponds to make it more inviting for deer, quail and waterfowl. She also built her own tradition of philanthropy, donating to land conservation efforts in the Lowcountry. Margaret Pepper died Dec. 28 at age 85.
“She described Botany Bay as her second heart,” Whitman said.
A SPECIAL PLACE
State wildlife officials had access to the property through the years and knew how special it was. So did the many locals who were allowed to hunt and fish at Botany Bay with the permission of “Mrs. Pepper,” as most knew her. Now others are discovering what was wrapped in that package for so many years.
Hal Currey, a bird-watching enthusiast from Sullivan’s Island, was the first official visitor on July 1. He saw or heard 43 species of birds during his visit.
A few weeks later, Bud Newton, of Athens, Ga., visited during an Edisto Beach vacation. He once worked as a naturalist at Little St. Simon Island in Georgia and was impressed as he strolled Botany Bay’s shell-covered beach.
“This is the real deal,” Newton said. “It’s pristine and so beautiful. It’s so different and so much more what I like to see than Edisto Beach. I’ll be back.”
He said his girlfriend has vacationed at Edisto Beach for 30 years and had no idea the uninhabited Botany Bay beach perched on the edge of the Atlantic only about a mile north.
Many people return annually to Edisto Beach, drawn as much by the relaxed atmosphere as the sand and surf. Locals hope Botany Bay intensifies that vibe.
Matthew Kizer, who hunted, fished and picked oysters at Botany Bay as a youngster, is excited the property won’t be turned into a residential development or golf course. As the owner of Edisto Realty, he has benefited from residential growth. But he recognizes that too much development would be bad for everyone.
A protected, public Botany Bay “is a tremendous asset,” Kizer said. “Edisto is a feeling. I think it’s going to help keep the character of Edisto what it is.”
RICH IN HISTORY, WILDLIFE
While it’s impossible to put a value on such a varied landscape without actually putting it on the market, Kizer characterized the gift as worth more than $100 million in today’s market.
A 125-acre inland tract on Edisto Island sold for $2.5 million last year. Beachfront lots in the new Jeremy Cay development, almost next door to Botany Bay, are on the market for $1.5 million for about 1.5 acres of high land. The per-acre value of the full Botany Bay parcel is somewhere between those two extremes.
But value isn’t limited to money. Volunteers have documented 330 sea turtle nests on the beach this year. Portions of the dunes are marked off-limits to people because shore birds nest there. Deer, quail and wild turkey thrive in the upland areas. (Limited hunting and fishing in the inland lakes will be allowed.)
The land is equally rich in history. Nearby ceremonial shell rings indicate Native Americans lived on the property. European settlers began farming the plantation in the early 1700s, growing rice and cotton.
Botany Bay is the combination of two plantations — Bleak Hall and Sea Cloud. Only the main and slave house ruins and a couple of outbuildings remain from that period.
“History lovers and nature lovers are the particular audience that will appreciate Botany Bay,” said Gretchen Smith, director of the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society. “At least I hope so, because those are the ones who usually take care of things.”
READY FOR TOURISTS?
Some wonder if Botany Bay opened too quickly.
Smith worries that Natural Resources officials opened the gates without adequately protecting the remaining structures. Her group wanted fences around the brick ruins of the Sea Cloud house, a slave quarters chimney, a beehive-shaped brick well and the wooden ice house and tabby garden shed from the 1840s.
Officials said material should arrive this week for fences planned around several of the historical treasures. The agency delayed the opening from May 1 to July 1 to better prepare for the public, but it wanted to give people a chance to check it out before hunting season begins in August.
Frampton said his agency doesn’t have the resources to turn its properties into museums, but it has a good record for protecting cultural resources on agency-owned land.
Another concern comes from locals, who worry about overuse of the dirt road leading to the plantation and wish Natural Resources could devote more personnel to the property. Currently, the full-time caretaker is backed up by law enforcement personnel and land managers who drop by often.
“We want public access,” Smith said. “But there have been instances on Edisto where we have incredible places and we turn around and they are gone.”
She hopes that, after waiting so long to open this incredible gift, South Carolina doesn’t break it in the first few months.
“I’ve got a 3-month-old grandson,” Smith said. “I want him to be able to go over there and enjoy it when he grows up.”
