This map is an 1881 tracing of an 1846 map which showed the division of Dr. William Parker’s large land holdings on northern Isle of Hope. Dr. Parker was the grandson of Henry and Ann Parker, the original settlers of the northern 500 acres of Isle of Hope. William Parker died a childless widower in 1838 and left portions of his property to his nieces and nephews, Alexander and James Maxwell, William Parker Bowen, Mary Amelia and Ann Mathews White, and Robert Guerard, many of whom are identified on this map. William Parker also willed 10 acres of land on the Bluff to Christ Church, which are shown on the map and labeled the “Church Lots”. Not surprisingly, present day Parkersburg Road is labelled on the map as “Road to Dr. Parker’s”.
The map shows far more of Isle of Hope than Dr. Parker ever owned, particularly in the Wymberley area. The “Wymberley Lots”, the group of the five-acre lots along the Bluff which were divided under the will of Sarah Jones Glen, are labeled. “Wormslow Road” and the road from “Skidaway to Savannah” are shown in southern Isle of Hope. Owners of the properties throughout the island are identified and the map gives an important roster of Isle of Hope landowners at the time.
The original 1846 map was traced in 1881 in connection with a land purchase by Charles Henry Seton Hardee that year. The maps includes great detail about the area around on northern Isle of Hope around “Lot 4”, the property being purchased by Hardee. That property became known as “Whitehall’. At that time, Bluff Drive was 70 feet wide and extended all the way to the north end of the Bluff in front of the houses. That portion of Bluff Drive has been blocked off for many years now. (Special Thanks to the Hardee Family)