I'On neighborhood in Mt Pleasant, SC

I've been fascinated with the I'On neighborhood ever since I first saw it this past May and where I subsequently purchased a home in July.  It's located approximately 3 miles east of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, which is what connects Charleston and Mount Pleasant, and it's adjacent to East

Cooper Montessori Charter School, the first public charter Montessori school in the state (perhaps where J & G babies might go?)
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The community was founded and planned in 1995 and is an example of new urbanism.  It was controversial when proposed with initial plans for a diverse village of over 1,200 units including multifamily homes and apartments, but to overcome a legal contest with the town of Mt Pleasant (which took a ruling by the SC Supreme Court to settle) there was a compromise in the planning process and eventually about 800 single family homes, a village square, churches and shops were built.  The first child born while living in I'On has just turned 16 and is driving, making some of the original residents shake their head in wonder.

The story of the land as far back as I can find goes; that in 1697 David Maybank II acquired 200 acres along Hobcaw Creek from the Lords Proprietors.  Maybank was a carpenter and built a house on the site which he named Hobcaw Plantation.  The plantation passed to his daughter Susannah and her husband Capt. Jacob Bond who was a planter and member of the Commons House of Assembly.  An interesting footnote in 1819 is one of the Bond family members hosted President James Monroe and Secretary of State John C. Calhoun at the plantation.  After Bond's death it passed to his daughter Rebecca.  Rebecca married James Read and they had a son Dr William Read who was a deputy surgeon general in the Continental Army.  Jacob's eldest daughter Elizabeth married Richard I'On.

The community today takes its name from Jacob Bond I'On (son of Richard and Elizabeth - and named after her Father) and who also became the first mayor of the town of Sullivan's Island.  

Current pictures (2 blocks from my house) of the area surrounding where the original plantation house sat. 

There was a close relationship between the Jacob Bond family and the owners of the nearby colonial shipyards.  The plantation's live oaks and longleaf pines were used to build ships.  East and west roads follow the route of the original road from Mathis Ferry Rd to the shipyard and are still lined with some of the oak trees. 

Later uses of the land took place when in 1938 The Shelmore Oyster Products Company bought the plantation.  The company's goal was to "shell more and sell more" oysters.  The land became a farm that produced vegetables for area markets.  They also canned locally grown tomatoes and okra.  Farming on this site was an important economical source for the area until the mid twentieth century when the industrial boom, world wars and other factors came in to play returning the land to scrub and forest until 1995 when current development began.   The neighborhood today is bordered by street names like Mathis Ferry, Shipyard, Perseverance, and Shelmore (my street) from it's early roots.

Some of my favorite features of the community include the extensive sidewalks, shared public green spaces, lakes, creeks, waterways and trails and the deep water access boat ramp (hmmmm).  I also like the crab docks, outdoor amphitheater, boathouse, Creek Clubhouse (for parties), I'on Club and a dozen small parks.  The streets look so charming because most homes have a deep front porch with ceiling heights of 10+ feet on raised foundations and each on small lots with 3 - 4 houses per acre.  



orange dot is my house
 

 

my front porch

 

 This is one of the early examples of new urbanist traditional neighoborhood developments, others include Seaside and Celebration in Florida and Kentlands in Maryland.

I'On has interesting history and is a beautiful place to call home.