Though the population of this quiet Lowcountry river town, which is located on the banks of the May River between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, has grown in the past decade, Bluffton, South Carolina, retains an abiding sense of place. Live oaks drip with Spanish moss along old dirt roads. The coastal village’s original one-square-mile footprint, Old Town, remains a bustling hub of gracious nineteenth-century homes—along with locally owned shops, art galleries, and restaurants that capitalize on the region’s considerable farm-fresh produce. Down by the water, pickers harvest prized oysters the old-fashioned way, by hand. And cadres of shrimpers and anglers—professional and recreational—still look to the river to provide the evening’s meal. Here, amid the marshlands and maritime forests, generations of longtime Bluffton families live, work, and play alongside newcomers and visitors, filling in the gaps between the town’s past, present, and future.
Meet a few of the families who are authoring Bluffton’s next chapter even as they preserve its history.
The Cahill Family
For more than a century, John and Robbie Cahill’s forebears have worked farmland on the banks of the May River, through world wars, depressions, floods, hurricanes, and a global pandemic. Purchased in 1918 by John’s great-grandmother, the family farm has nourished generations of Cahills. “If we didn’t have this piece of land, our family wouldn’t have made it,” says Robbie, who alongside his father manages the farm as well as Cahill’s Market, a roadside stand and restaurant just outside of Old Town. John also credits the May River with his family’s longevity: “You can go to the river and get you some fish, crab, and shrimp—it’s got everything you need.” Today, the Cahills are bringing Bluffton’s bounty of river and field to your table. You can tuck into a hearty country breakfast (served at the market restaurant until noon), stop in for lunch and a plate of the Cahills’ excellent fried chicken, or shop the market for produce and other local pantry staples.
The Bush Family
LJ Bush is a man of faith, a father, a coach, and a nonprofit director. He’s also a partner in a handful of local food-and-beverage businesses, including Side Hustle Brewing Company, which just opened a tap room in Bluffton. It was growing up in Bluffton in the 1970s, in the area’s tight-knit Gullah community, that helped shape him into that man, he says. His father’s family farmed. His mother’s family fished. The land and the surrounding waterways sustained them. “The Gullah community took care of each other,” he says. “One guy might have three bushels of corn while another would have several pounds of shrimp and fish, and they’d trade or barter for what they needed.” Bluffton might look different now than it did five decades ago, but the town’s neighborly spirit remains as reliable as the rhythms of the tides.
The Toomer Family
By the time he was eight years old, Larry Toomer was navigating Bluffton’s snaking maze of spartina-lined waterways alone. At twenty, he bought his first shrimp boat. The river is his blood. “Bluffton isn’t famous for any one particular thing except the river—and the oysters and other seafood it provides,” Toomer says. “Protecting it is my biggest job right now. I want my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids to have access to the same God-given natural resources I have had all my life.” The fourth-generation Bluffton resident is the town’s current mayor and the owner of Old Town’s Bluffton Oyster Co., the state’s last hand-shucking outfit, where they still shuck the May River’s extra-salty bivales by hand in a historic warehouse at the end of Wharf Street. Open to the public, Bluffton Oyster Co. also sells fresh-caught local shrimp, blue crab, and more than a dozen varieties of native fish. You can take the day’s catch home with you or snag a table at their intown restaurant, the Bluffton Family Seafood House.
To start planning your Bluffton escape, visit visitbluffton.org
