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August Issue 2005
The Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Island, SC, Presents Exhibition about Honey Horn
Manager's house
at Honey Horn - c.1930
The Coastal Discovery Museum is pleased to announce a new temporary exhibition detailing the history and future of Honey Horn, a one time plantation, hunting lodge, and most recently, private residence. This beautiful 69-acre parcel of Island property is currently under a long-term lease to the Museum from the Town of Hilton Head Island, SC. The exhibit, Honey Horn: Past, Present and Future, will be on view through Sept. 12, 2005.
Honey Horn had been utilized during the Native
American era as well as the Plantation period before the Graham
family began constructing the main house there in 1859. Beginning
in the 1890s, northern businessmen purchased large sections of
Hilton Head Island, including Honey Horn, for hunting, fishing
and other sporting activities. During this hunting club era, Honey
Horn took on the appearance it has today. Most of the structures
on the property (as well as the major additions to the main house)
date from the 1920s and 1930s when Landon K. Thorne and Alfred
Lee Loomis owned 17,000 acres on Hilton Head Island. The property
was purchased by Hilton Head Island developer and lumberman Fred
Hack in 1950 and used as a private residence and farm.
The exhibition is a glimpse back in time to a period when Hilton
Head Island was quite different than today. Honey Horn has played
a key role in various aspects of island history. Using historic
photographs, letters, written reminiscences, models, and artifacts,
this exhibit will share some of Honey Horn's intriguing story.
Many of the items on display are on loan to the Museum by former
owners and residents of Honey Horn.
Components in the exhibit include several three dimensional scale
models depicting the property footprint and buildings. The models,
built by Museum volunteer Seymour Lash, are a result of a request
several years ago by then Board Chair Jim Robinson. Over the years
Lash has built over thirty scale models of ships "but,"
he says, "until this point, my only connection with scale
model houses was the construction of two doll houses which were
eventually raffled to benefit an island charity." After fourteen
months of design and fabrication, Lash delivered the models to
the Coastal Discovery Museum. Lash says, "it was a terrific
learning experience." He was surprised that "after spending
so many years looking at miniature scale boats, it was a relatively
smooth transition to construct scale landscapes, houses, and trees!"
J.E. Lawrence
and Flora Lawrence (in the foreground) and daughter Margaret (in
the background) at the shuffleboard court - c. 1930 - Mr. Lawrence
was the manager of Honey Horn.
Viewers of this exhibition will also get a glimpse into the future vision of what Honey Horn will become - a significant component of Coastal Discovery Museum programs. Needing more space to effectively and efficiently fulfill its mission, serve the community, and meet the increasing expectations of the island's 2.5 million visitors and its 30,000+ residents, the Museum will program the property to help the public more easily discovery the cultural heritage and natural history of the region. This programming will include the renovation of the Main House, or Discovery House as it will be known, complete with new interactive exhibits, temporary gallery space, meeting rooms, and a gift shop. Further-more, the Museum will install educational boardwalks along the marsh with family activity stations, build a new outdoor pavilion, and create walking trails throughout the property detailing the flora and fauna found here.
Exhibition visitors will enjoy learning the answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about Honey Horn. For example, how did it get its name? Or, which former owner had a laboratory in Tuxedo Park? When were the buildings constructed and who lived in them? Why is there a cemetery at Honey Horn? Visit the Coastal Discovery Museum to find out these answers - and more!
For additional information check our SC
Institutional Gallery listings, call the museum at 843/689-6767,
or at (www.coastaldiscovery.org).
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