History for Lunch with Robert (Mac) McAlister
Georgetown's North Island, A History
North Island has always been the beacon from the sea leading toward Georgetown, South Carolina. It was an island of exploration for the Spanish in 1526 and the first landing place of Lafayette, France’s hero of the American Revolution, in 1777. It was a summer resort for aristocratic rice planters and their slaves from Georgetown and Waccamaw Neck until 1861. North Island’s lighthouse, built in 1811, led thousands of sailing ships from all over the world past massive stone jetties and through Winyah Bay to Georgetown. Today, North Island is a sanctuary and laboratory for the study of nature’s effects on this unique barrier island. Join historian Robert McAlister as he recounts the island’s storied past.
Robert McAlister is a retired engineer and longtime resident of Georgetown. He has written four published nonfiction books about the maritime history of the Georgetown area - Wooden Ships on Winyah Bay, The Life and Times of Georgetown Sea Captain Abram Jones Slocum 1861-1914, The Lumber Boom of Coastal South Carolina, and Georgetown's North Island, A History. He, his wife Mary and their three sons did extensive long distance sailing and wrote a memoir about their sailing adventures, titled Cruising Through Life. Mac is currently director of the South Carolina Maritime Museum.
- Tickets are $20 each and include a buffet lunch prepared by Chef Eddie Chacon.
- 10% discount for SCMM and OLLI members - tickets are $18 each for members
- Seating is limited. We recommend purchasing tickets in advance.
