Daufuskie Island 

Daufuskie Island is located between Hilton Head Island and historic Savannah, Georgia. It is believed to be approximately 100,000 years old and has been inhabited continuously for almost 4,000 years. Arrowheads have been found on the island that date back 9,000 years.

The word “Daufuskie” is the combination of two Indian words - “daufa” which means feather and “fuskie” which means sharp or pointed - and translates as “sharp feather.” The island is a sea island, not a barrier island, and is approximately 2.5 miles wide and 5 miles long which is equivalent to 5,000 acres. Hilton Head Island and Tybee Island are barrier islands.

There are approximately 200 full-time residents on Daufuskie Island. It wasn’t until 1953 that every resident on Daufuskie Island had electricity. Telephone service was first established on the Island in 1973.

When developers came to Daufuskie in the early 1980s, there were only 52 permanent residents. In 1984, International Paper purchased land at the north end of Daufuskie Island and named it Haig Point, a private residential community. Also in 1984, the central and southeastern portions of the Island, known as Melrose and Bloody Point, were purchased by three developers and businessmen from Hilton Head Island who formed The Melrose Company. This area of the island was developed as a private club and resort, including 190 rooms in the Inn and 2 and 4 bedroom beach cottages, two championship golf courses, tennis facilities, an equestrian center and other amenities.

In 1997, The Melrose Company holdings were purchased by ClubCorp of Dallas, Texas, a leading international resort management firm. ClubCorp renamed the combined properties of Melrose and Bloody Point to Daufuskie Island Club & Resort. Resort operations and club memberships continued for the next four years until 2001, at which time ClubCorp divested itself of the property.

In May 2002, Daufuskie Island Properties, LLC purchased the property and has since set forth to aggressively position this historic, sea island resort as one of the most desirable getaways on American soil. In doing so, they employed the skill and expertise of Tiburon Hospitality Management, an award winning hospitality and meetings management company based in Carefree, Arizona to oversee resort and club operations.