Palmetto Place

Named for the Cabbage Palmetto; the state tree of South Caroline. The Palmetto has long held a much-revered place in the history of South Carolina. When the British attacked the fort on Sullivan's Island along Charleston's coast, cannonballs from the warships sank into the tough, pliable wood of the palmetto trees from which the fort was built without destroying the wall. The palmetto was attributed as being instrumental in Colonel Moultries's defense of the fort, When South Carolina succeeded from the Union a flag to represent the independent republic was needed. The state's General Assembly chose to add the Palmetto to the flag created by Colonel Moultrie during the American Revolutionary, a blue field with a crescent moon in the upper right hand corner. It was the Palmetto Guard of Charleston that raised the newly adopted flag over Fort Sumter after it was taken by Confederate forces at the onset of the Civil War. The state flag remains unchanged today from the design that flew over the independent South Carolina during the Civil War and Palmetto remains a much beloved symbol for its role in the states history.