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Hilton Head Island is a town located on an island of the same name in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 33,862 at the 2000 census, living on a land area of 108.94 km (42.06 sq mi). Although the town occupies ... more »
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Airports Hilton Head Island is a town located on an island of the same name in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 33,862 at the 2000 census, living on a land area of 108.94 km² (42.06 sq mi). Although the town occupies most of the land area of the island, it is not coterminous with it; there is a small part near the main access road from the mainland, William Hilton Parkway, which is not incorporated into the town. Hilton Head (the island) therefore has a slightly higher population (34,407 in Census 2000, defined as the Hilton Head Island Urban Cluster) and a larger land area (110.45 km² or 42.65 sq mi) than the town. Hilton Head Island is 45 miles (72 km) north of Savannah, Georgia, and 95 miles (152 km) south of Charleston, South Carolina. The island features 12 miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destination.
The island is served by the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport and by the Hilton Head Airport which is on-island. Hilton Head Island is famous for its world class golf courses and each year hosts the Verizon Heritage Classic Tournament, which is played on the Harbour Town Golf Links in Sea Pines Plantation.
Though known mainly as a tourist destination, Hilton Head has developed a rapidly growing full-time population, made up mostly of affluent transplants from Ohio, New Jersey, and other northern states. It is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan Area, which includes Beafort and Jasper Counties and had a 2005 estimated population of 159,247.
Located just north of Savannah, Georgia, it is the second largest (after Long Island, New York) of the Barrier Islands on the Atlantic Ocean coastline.
Hilton Head has several places of historical interest. There is a large earthworks fort called Fort Walker in Port Royal Plantation. This fort was a station for Confederate troops until 1861 and participated in Battle of Port Royal.
Port Royal also is the location of an experimental steam cannon guarding Port Royal Sound built around 1900. The cannon was fixed but its propulsion system allowed for long range shots for the time.
The Leamington Lighthouse which was built in the 1870s on the southern edge of what is now Palmetto Dunes.
The first bridge to the island was built in 1956; it was a two lane toll bridge. Later a swing bridge was constructed and operated until 1982 when it was replaced. The swing bridge was hit by a barge in 1974 which shutdown all vehicle traffic to the island until the Army Corps of Engineers built and manned a pontoon bridge while the bridge was being repaired.
Many of the island's early residents spoke Gullah.
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