Phone: 843.784.2231New Horizons, Traditional Values
Despite the city's recent growth, life in Hardeeville has changed little over the years. Neighbors still wave, church remains a focus, and city fairs and ball games continue to delight.
Founded in the 1730s by Swiss Huguenots, the city of Purrysburg couldn't compete with Oglethorpe's nearby Savannah, and folded within a decade. The area's ideal location near the Savannah River, with its proximity to established Charleston and soon-thriving Savannah, kept residents in the area, however.
The city now known as Hardeeville was founded by a family of pioneering North Carolinians sometime around 1800, when Isaac Hardee brought his family to the sand ridges of St. Peter's Parish.
Hardee's descendant, White William Hardee, was the city's first real businessman, the founder of Hardee's Station on the Charleston & Savannah Railroad. In time, the city grew up around the station. Soon, the "Station" part was dropped from the name, and the formal "Ville" was added.
In time, White Hardee died.
According to area historian Barbara Pinckney, the Hardees' plantation stood north of the existing city's limits, in the U.S. 321 neighborhood known as Raymond's Hill. His station and mercantile store stood behind what is now the Catholic church on U.S. 17, just feet from the railroad.
White Hardee lies buried on his family's plantation, in a badly overgrown cemetery, his stone shattered and, until recently, buried under leaves and dirt.
Johnny Raymond, who lives nearby, cleaned it off, reading its inscription as he went: "In memory of White W. Hardee who departed this (illegible) Sept. the 16th 1855 aged 45 yrs. 9 m(?) and 16 days who left eight children to mourn his irreparable loss. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Hardee's grave is on property owned by Horace Phillips, and is not open to the public. Raymond, Phillips' neighbor, hopes to soon restore and preserve the stone, however. Other Hardee descendants are buried in Louis Davis' front yard on Main Street.