USCB's Nature Trail Leads to History
Nestled behind the Recreation Center on the Bluffton campus, the USCB Living Laboratory Nature Trail offers students, faculty, and visitors a unique opportunity to experience the history,
natural beauty and ecological richness of the Lowcountry.
The half-mile trail winds through a landscape that is a living classroom and a peaceful
retreat. The trail's past as a narrow-gauge railroad anchors the campus with a sense
of place.
Part of the Upper Okatie watershed, the trail is home to a variety of native trees, plants, and wildlife. It borders a large wetland that plays an essential role in stormwater management and the natural filtration of runoff from the campus and surrounding communities. This thriving ecosystem provides hands-on learning and faculty opportunities for USCB students, faculty and staff, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), the USCB Environmental Club, and the wider community.
Walking the shaded path, where tree limbs stretch overhead like the arches of a natural cathedral, visitors experience a deep sense of connection to both nature and the Lowcountry's history. The Bluffton Campus, founded in 2004, is grounded in this Spanish-moss-draped landscape that was once timberland.
Trains Once Crossed this Land
The USCB nature trail follows an old Argent Lumber Company railroad bed, once part of a network of narrow-gauge rail lines that served the region’s timber industry in the early 20th century. The railroad spur that ran through what is now USCB's Bluffton campus carried yellow pine to a sawmill in Hardeeville.
The railroad was owned first by Argent Lumber Company, then Union Camp Corporation and later International Paper. Historical records of the railroad are preserved in the International Paper archives in Savannah and at Palmetto Bluff, which retains some of the timber company’s original documents.
Dr. Larry Rowland, USCB Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, describes the Argent railroad in his book The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: Bridging the Sea Islands Past and Present (1893-2006):
"The Argent Lumber Compay was formed in 1916 by Horace W. Phillips of Suffolk, Virginia, and Ross and William McNeal of Burgaw, North Carolina. The firm built a large sawmill in Hardeeville and ran narrow-guage railway lines thorugh the forest and swamps of Southern Beaufort County.In 1957 the Argent Lumber Company's assests, including 43,000 acres of Beaufort and Jasper County land, were aquired by the Union Camp Corporation." (p. 144)
After World War II, Union Bag and Paper merged with Campu Lumber Company to become the giant Union-Camp Corporation. In 1957 Union-Camp acquired the land and timber assets of the Argent Lumber Company of Hardeeville to become the largest landowner in the lowcountry. The Union-Camp timberlands in Southern Beaufort County are now the site of the Sun City Hilton Head retirement community and the University of South Carolina Beaufort's New River [Bluffton] campus (established in 2004)." (p. 297)
A locomotive used by the Argent Lumber Company sits in front of Hardeeville's City Hall. It's a #7 steam engine, a wood-burning train built around 1910 by the H.K. Porter Company. to transport timber from the swamps of Beaufort and Jasper counties. The locomotive was donated to the city in 1960 when the lumber company closed.
The Trail is Open to All
The trails serves as an outdoor classroom, a place for meditation and recreation,
and a daily reminder of the interdependence between people and the natural environment.
It's home to a beautiful mix of native plant and tree species—like live oaks draped
in Spanish moss, palmettos, longleaf pines, cypress, and wax myrtles—that shape the
region’s distinct coastal landscape and ecology. Learn more about them
Accessible from the Bluffton campus and adjacent to Sun City Hilton Head, the trail is open to the entire USCB community and local residents.
- Hours: Sunrise to Sunset
Citation:
Rowland, L. S., & Wise, S. R. (2015). Bridging the Sea Islands' past and present: The history of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 3: 1893-2006. University of South Carolina Press.