Pinckney Island
Inhabited for some 10,000 years,
Pinckney Island was known as
Espalanga, Look–out, and Mackey's
prior to about 1775. Alexander
Mackey received two Proprietary
grants for land on the island
in 1710. Charles Pinckney later owned
the island and willed it in 1769
to his son, Charles Cotesworth,
who became a successful planter here.
James Bruce, former military
aide to President Woodrow
Wilson, purchased this island
from the Pinckneys in 1937 and
developed it into a small~game
hunting preserve. In 1975
Margaret and James Barker and
Edward Starr, Jr. donated the
island to the United States for
a wildlife refuge and a nature
and forest preserve.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of William Hilton Highway (U.S. 278) and Land's End Drive.
Courtesy hmdb.org
