Hardeeville

History

The earliest European settlement in the region was Purrysburg, a former Swiss Huguenot settlement founded in 1732 on the banks of the Savannah River, about northwest of the current city's center. The settlement ultimately failed, as disease and competition from growing Savannah proved too much for the local settlers to overcome. Many left the immediate area, moving elsewhere in the Lowcountry region (including a new hamlet called Switzerland) or upriver to the new communities of Augusta, Georgia, and Hamburg, South Carolina, though some remained. The area saw some skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. The Charleston and Savannah Railway (today's CSX Transportation) was considered a prized possession and major strategic goal for Union forces. The Battle of Honey Hill, an effort to defend the railroad, was one of the later battles won by Southern forces in late 1864, shortly before General William Sherman entered South Carolina after his March to the Sea in Georgia. The area within the city was settled in the 19th century by Isaac Hardee, a native from North Carolina. Through the efforts of his son, Whyte William Hardee, a depot and general store along the Charleston and Savannah Railway opened up. This depot and the surrounding areas became collectively known as "Hardee's Station", and eventually as "Hardeeville" at the town's founding in 1911. The area became renowned for its timber operations with the Argent Lumber Company, which had one of the largest logging operations in the world. Unique to the area was the swamp logging procedure, with conditions that were far more treacherous than standard logging. narrow-gauge railroads were constructed to help deliver timber to a processing area, where the lumber would be lifted onto rail…

Geography

Hardeeville is located south of the center of Jasper County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of in 2010, of which were land and , or 0.24%, were water. Much of the city is bordered to the west by the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, a large-scale nature preserve along the South Carolina and Georgia sides of the Savannah River.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,252
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  4,839
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,330
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,079
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,047
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,963
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  3,932
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,881