Original subtitles

the same day that the rebel flag was removed

of white south carolinians in the civil war.

but many saw it as a symbol of the state's rebellion

to the growing civil rights movement.

in 2000, nearly 50,000 protesters

marched up main street to the state house steps

and demanded that the flag be lowered.

later that year it was finally removed

making south carolina the last state

to officially fly the confederate flag.

but the confederate spirit

still cooks up controversy in columbia.

it was raised in 1962 to mark the sacrifices

from the state house, the owner of a popular barbecue chain

raised confederate flags over his nine local restaurants.

barbecue is always a contentious subject in the carolinas.

the question of mustard versus tomato-based sauces

has been known to start duels.

but the battle waged by the owner of maurice's piggie park

is a racial one.

maurice openly defends the former practice of slavery

in the state.

in protest, major store chains throughout the south

barbecue products have pulled all the company's

incredibly, the new state house, already under construction,

construction of a new state house began in 1851,

but the first structure had to be torn down

because of major structural flaws.

major john niernsee, a vienna-born railway engineer

took over the project.

but his structure was threatened by war.

on february 17, 1865, general william tecumseh sherman

and his union troops swept into columbia.

fueled by abandoned barrels of confederate whiskey,

the disorderly soldiers pillaged and set fire to the city.

a total of 84 blocks burned in a single night.

from their shelves.

survived the attack.

but the fires did destroy

architectural plans. all the building's

empty after the civil war, and with the state's coffers

until 1903. the building wasn't completed

its corinthian columns are among the largest in the world.

each is carved from a single massive hunk of blue granite

that slaves pulled from a quarry just south of the city.

for nearly four decades,

the confederate flag flew atop the state house dome.

a legend of the tribe says that a giant spirit

and fend off the attack.

in 1781, 1,000 patriots attacked the fort.

the ensuing battle became the longest siege

of the american revolution.

inside the fort lie the remains of a well

that british forces dug hoping to sustain themselves

throughout the long siege...

but they never reached water.

heading towards the northwest boundary of the state,

the blue ridge mountains beckon.

this used to be cherokee country.

to help the loyalists better see their enemy

used to sit on one of these mountains

and eat from the top of another.

table rock, as it's called,

is located in table rock state park--

a protected wilderness that covers more than 3,000 acres.

pinnacle mountain. it's also home to

at more than 3,400 feet,

it's the highest peak that's entirely within

the state of south carolina.

east of the blue ridge mountains lies gaffney.

was established on the cherokee trail near a plentiful spring.

heading north lies south carolina's backcountry.

these forests were once home to the cherokee trail,

a key native american trade route that once stretched

from charleston all the way to tennessee.

european settlers used the trail to expand west

and trade their weapons, rum, and gunpowder for pelts.

in 1748 alone, the skins of 160,000 deer were exported

from south carolina to europe to make pants, gloves, and hats.

biggest commodity deerskin was south carolina's

until the arrival of rice cultivation.

by 1775, a settlement with 12 dwellings and a courthouse

is that this state house is even standing.

it was named 96, from the mistaken belief

that it lay 96 miles away from the cherokee capital, keowee.

the village has since been reconstructed

along with a stockade fort built in 1781 to protect the spring.

nearby, an odd form appears on the ground below.

points of a star pushing up from the earth.

these are the remains of star fort.

british loyalists built the fort here in 1780

with slave labor to defend themselves against rebel forces.

the fort was designed with eight points

these historic sites provide stunning glimpses

was a smallpox hospital and should be spared.

today drayton hall is considered the oldest

and most splendid example of georgian palladian architecture

in the united states.

houses of plantation owners luckily, it's not just the grand

that have survived.

on the nearby boone plantation, small slave cabins still stand

on what's known as slave street.

it was common at the time for slave cabins to be built

in front of a plantation mansion

as a public display of their prosperity.

were ordered to tell union troops that the house

of the antebellum period and a chance to understand

what life was like for enslaved africans in south carolina.

as plantation profits grew,

so, too, did the estates of their owners.

the vast landscape gardens of middleton place

are thought to be the oldest in the u.s.

they were designed and planted

so that there would be something in bloom every day of the year.

middleton place was also the site of a farming experiment.

in 1846 the owners imported

water buffalo from constantinople

the river would provide a transportation network

most english settlers came from barbados.

they were young, ambitious farmers

eager to expand their opportunities.

among these early settlers were thomas and anne drayton.

arriving from barbados in 1679, they built magnolia plantation.

but it was one of the draytons' sons

greatest legacy. who established the family's

as the third son,

john drayton knew he wouldn't inherit his family's land.

so, in 1738 the 23-year-old purchased 350 acres of his own

along the ashley river.

to see if, with their wide hooves and sturdy legs,

to carry his crops to the ports.

he then set about building himself a new house

on a grand scale.

during the civil war, union soldiers torched

many of the plantation houses along the ashley river.

amazingly, drayton hall was one of only three that survived.

why it did is a mystery that has long puzzled historians.

some say that general sherman spared the estate

because he was in love with one of the drayton women.

another theory is that the slaves working on the plantation

a single logging company bought up nearly all this land.

which nearly wiped out the congaree.

the few members of the tribe that remained

were either imprisoned or killed by the colonists.

there are no congaree left today,

but this vast stretch of their ancient land

remains practically untouched.

the congaree national park covers 27,000 acres

and is home to nearly 100 species of trees

and a canopy that rises higher than the amazon rainforest.

the dampness here is also what's protected it from people.

in the early 20th century,

when european settlers arrived here they brought smallpox,

but the trees were so wet they wouldn't even float downriver,

and the company quickly abandoned their operations here,

floodplain forests intact. leaving the congaree's

20 miles to the northwest the floodplain ends...

just before reaching columbia, the capital of south carolina.

at the center of town lies one of the most notable buildings

in the country-- the south carolina state house.

its most unique feature is its dome

covered with 44,000 pounds of copper.

but what's even more remarkable

from the air it's easy to see why.

they could outperform horses in tilling rice fields.

but during the civil war

union troops burned the main house

and slaughtered some of the animals for food.

many of the buffalo that were spared

ultimately ended up in new york's central park zoo.

today, middleton place is a national historic landmark.

its gardens were opened to the public in the 1920s.

the garden club of america called them

"the most interesting and important gardens

in the united states."

it was once a thriving textile mill center.

moving inland from south carolina's coastline,

a rolling landscape beckons.

largest intact area this is north america's

of old growth floodplain forest.

this fertile region once belonged

to a native american tribe called the congaree.

periodically, nearby rivers flood the forest,

supplying it with nutrients and sediment

that create a rich ecosystem

fish, reptiles, and insects. that's home to a wide variety of

better known as egyptian cotton.

hilton head island covers more than 40 square miles,

and is one of the largest barrier islands on the coast.

over the centuries, it's had many inhabitants

including native americans and spanish explorers.

the british cotton planters but it wasn't until

arrived here around 1800

that the island developed into an economic powerhouse.

by the start of the civil war,

more than 20 plantations had sprung up,

including the first in america

to grow extra-long staple cotton,

that once produced the finest cotton in the world.

cotton may no longer be king here,

but the island is still an economic powerhouse.

every year, tourists pump roughly 1.5 billion dollars

into hilton head's economy.

just north of hilton head

lies one of the toughest places on earth.

parris island had been home to the u.s. marine corps

since 1891.

recruits are turned into marines it's here where newly enlisted

in just 13 weeks.

today, drill instructors train an estimated

then, the tea plants grew wild until they were transplanted

in the late 19th century,

the american department of agriculture

was searching for new financially viable crops.

until then, almost all of america's tea came from asia.

they discovered that south carolina's humid climate

and sandy soil could be perfect for growing high quality tea.

but the labor cost of picking the tea leaves in south carolina

was eight times more expensive than it was in china or india,

and after just four years the venture was shut down.

however, another tea plantation was founded nearby in 1888,

producing award-winning teas until its owner's death in 1915.

19,000 men and women at parris island each year.

and cultivated by the lipton tea company in 1963.

fearing the instability of the third world countries

that produced so much of its tea, lipton wanted to experiment

with creating its own working tea farm.

the company eventually sold the venture,

but today the tea plantation remains in operation

commercial tea garden. as the country's only

the american classic brand of tea that it produces

is the official tea of the white house.

southwest is another barrier island

to see south carolina by air is a chance to explore

beaufort was more fortunate than many of its neighboring towns.

wherever they went,

northern troops left a path of destruction.

but the army spared beaufort,

using it instead as a union headquarters.

historic antebellum buildings as a result, many of the city's

have been preserved.

from its barrier islands, along its pristine beaches,

and inland across its giant floodplain forest,

south carolina is as much defined by its wild spaces

as it is by the history woven into its earth.

during the civil war,

the true spirit of the south.

from the elegant streets of charleston,

to the rough frontier villages of early pioneers,

to the giant plantations

that built some of america's biggest fortunes,

and the stories of those who were brought unwillingly

to its shores...

aerial south carolina travels across

southern state america's smallest

whose stories are as big as the nation itself.

when he knocked down muhammad ali in round 15

the humorist art buchwald, a former marine

who got his training at parris island,

described his experience there as, "a very painful one,

which is exactly how the marines intended it to be."

its purpose he said was to "break you down,

and then rebuild you into a soldier

who will never question an order,

who will always worry about their buddy,

and who someday will walk as tall as john wayne."

in march 1971, joe frazier

became a household name around the world

home to a unique agricultural experiment.

at madison square garden.

frazier was born here in beaufort,

second oldest town. south carolina's

its quaint, historic streets and houses

have made this town an ideal movie set.

films like forrest gump, the big chill,

prince of tides were all shot here.

celebrities often stay at the rhett house inn

on craven street,

a classic 1820 plantation house turned luxury hotel.

settled their differences with blood.

this state-of-the-art factory covers four million square feet,

an area the size of nearly 70 football fields.

inside, 7,000 workers produce about 600 vehicles every day--

one out of every six that the company makes.

after they roll off the assembly line,

these luxury cars are shipped across the u.s.

and from the port of charleston into 130 markets worldwide.

today, many call the region around greer

the detroit of the south.

traveling south of greer is a trip back in time

to a place where pioneers

in the united states, right here in the small town of greer.

today, edgefield is by all appearances peaceful and quaint.

but in the early 19th century,

this town and the surrounding county

had one of the highest murder rates in the country.

local legend says that blood has been spilled

over every square foot of this town center.

accused criminals were tried here

at the edgefield courthouse.

one of the most colorful trials of the day

was that of a young beauty named becky cotton.

she had murdered her first husband with a large needle,

to let the world know

but one with enormous pride. today it's a sleepy town,

enough to erect a four-story, one million gallon water tank

to celebrate it.

locals call it the peachoid.

peaches were originally brought to america

by spanish explorers in the 1500s.

and when english colonists arrived 100 years later,

they found native americans cultivating the fruit...

leaving the settlers to believe

that peaches were actually native to south carolina.

built in 1981, the water tower was designed as a giant peach

poisoned her second,

that south carolina produces more peaches

than the so-called peach state, georgia.

in fact, south carolina now officially calls itself

"the tastier peach state."

another small upstate south carolina town

is home to a unique american success story.

as in gaffney, textile mills thrived in the town of greer.

but by the 1970s,

competition from asia sent the region into decline.

then, in the early 1990s, bmw opened its first and only plant

of the plutonium used to build the nation's nuclear weapons.

and to provide power for the state.

the savannah river stretches over 300 miles--

from the foothills of the blue ridge mountains

all the way to the atlantic.

the river divides south carolina from georgia to the south.

lying in the midst of this seemingly pristine wilderness

is a vast, once top secret industrial complex

that covers 300 square miles.

the savannah river site was built

by the u.s. department of energy in the 1950s.

for decades, up to five giant reactors produced 40%

in order to stop flooding in communities downstream

today the reactors and the site's other processing plants

have been shut down.

they were too old to operate without expensive repairs.

and the site is now contaminated

with tens of millions of gallons of radioactive waste.

the plan is to entomb the old reactors and seal off the waste.

a vast amount of cement-- but that's expected to take

enough to fill four home depot stores right up to their roofs.

60 miles up the coast from the mouth of the savannah

is wadmalaw island,

including the oldest and longest one

and put an axe through the skull of her third.

but surprisingly, she was acquitted on all charges.

some say she used her beauty to win over the jury...

and perhaps they're right--

becky cotton went on to marry one of the jurymen.

but before she could kill him

her own brother murdered her first...

and he did it right on the edgefield courthouse steps.

today, edgefield county is better remembered

as the birthplace of ten south carolina governors,

five lieutenant governors, and a number of state senators,

during the first years of the colony

strom thurmond. to serve in the state's history:

west of edgefield, these peaceful waters

have been named in thurmond's honor.

strom thurmond lake covers 71,000 acres

and is surrounded by a 1,200-mile shoreline.

bodies of water in the south. it's one of the largest inland

and while it may not look like it,

the lake is entirely manmade.

it was created when the u.s. army corps of engineers

built the strom thurmond dam on the savannah river

in the history of the u.s. navy.

this one was renamed in its honor and took part

in several important pacific theater campaigns,

including the battle of iwo jima and later in vietnam,

earning her a total of 16 battle stars.

in december 1968, the carrier made history

when she served as the recovery vessel

for the apollo 8 command module and her astronauts,

who returned to earth after completing

orbital mission. nasa's first manned lunar

deck stands an f-14a tomcat--

one of the most powerful fighters

during world war ii.

and the e-1b tracer.

dating from the 1950s, the e-1b is mounted

with an early warning radar dome

four-man crew that was used by the plane's

to find and track enemy aircraft.

today charleston harbor is also home

to one of the busiest container cargo ports in the country--

second only to new york on the eastern seaboard.

the port is located inside the mouth of the cooper river

to help protect freighters from the hurricanes

that batter the coast.

on april 12, 1861, confederate forces stormed fort sumter

his body was left hanging for four days as a warning to others

who might have been considering a life of piracy.

in later years, forts were built to protect the city

from pirates and the union navy.

starting in the 1841,

70,000 tons of new england granite and other stone

were sunk in charleston harbor to make fort sumter.

it was one of a series of key fortifications

along the eastern seaboard.

little did anyone know, the first attack on the fort

would come from charleston itself.

with its wide, deep natural harbor

and fired the first shot of the civil war--

the war between the states. or as it's called in the south,

guarding the harbor today u.s.s. yorktown--

aircraft carrier. america's oldest

at patriots point, it's docked here

naval and maritime museums. one of the world's largest

commissioned in 1943,

and nearly as long as three football fields,

is the fourth u.s. naval ship to bear that name.

was lost at the battle of midway

they turn this sleepy winter town into a vacation mecca,

highway system. in south carolina's

it offers travelers from charleston fast access

greatest treasures-- to some of the state's

the stunning beaches and barrier islands that line its coast.

this 60-mile-long beach is called the grand strand,

and stretches from georgetown

right up to the north carolina border.

most famous coastal town-- at its heart is south carolina's

myrtle beach.

30,000 winter residents it's home to just

but to hundreds of thousands during the summer months.

today the ravenel is a crucial link

packing high-end hotels and golf courses and campgrounds.

the pace of development on this stretch of beach has been rapid.

just over a century ago it was largely uninhabited--

and for good reason.

up until the end of the 19th century,

swamps made it hard to even get to the coast...

and sandy soil conditions and low crop yields

made farming here difficult.

to top it off, storms battered the beach.

no one knew the difficulties of farming and survival here

building the ravenel was a major engineering feat.

and high-tech crane system, this port can move cargo and ships

faster than any other in the united states.

but to get here, ships have to pass under

this marvel of modern engineering.

the arthur ravenel bridge soars 570 feet above the cooper river.

its road decks are suspended high off the water

largest freighters. to make way for the world's

named after u.s. congressman arthur ravenel, jr.,

more than 1,500 feet long, the bridge's main span is

making it the longest cable-stayed bridge

in north america.

to white point gardens to face the gallows.

its location makes it vulnerable

to a host of potential catastrophes,

so engineers had to take every measure to make it fail-safe.

they drilled 240 deep shafts into the riverbed

for the bridge's main footings.

and they encased each support tower in a one-acre rock island,

built with more than half a million tons of stone.

these features ensure that the bridge can withstand everything

from 300 mile per hour winds to magnitude 7.4 earthquakes,

and even impact collision with the world's largest ships.

they named their first settlement charlestown,

with orders to start a colony.

but life was difficult and food supplies scarce.

so the settlers attempted to flee back to france

on a homemade ship.

it was a horrific journey on which many of the men perished

and others resorted to cannibalism to survive.

the british had more success.

in 1670, england's king charles ii

gifted the land of the carolinas to eight of his noblemen.

soon a group of english settlers arrived on a storm-tossed ship

carolina to start a colony here.

in 1562, 27 french sailors were dropped off here

after their king.

writer pat conroy has said

that charleston is a feast for the human eye,

but also a dark city with secrets

as powerful and beguiling as its elegance.

charleston may be an elegant city today,

but it hasn't always been.

in 1923, while working on runnin' wild,

composer and pianist james p. johnson

made charleston a household name around the world.

the charleston was one of the definitive dance tunes

and down the colorful streets

it may be the smallest state in the south,

in the history of the nation. but it's played a giant role

it was here where european settlers and african slaves

turned marshes into fortunes of rice...

where the first shots of the civil war were fired

and where new industry has transformed

a small northern town into the detroit of the south.

aerial south carolina journeys across landmarks

of the revolutionary war

through a vast cypress swamp that once was

the refuge of a famous american freedom fighter...

of the 1920s.

of what may be the most elegant city in the nation...

to explore the true spirit and rich history of the south.

from a stunning coastline

where hurricanes strike with deadly force

to a little-known island that turns new recruits

into america's marines.

this is south carolina.

the coast of south carolina is one of the most loved

on the eastern seaboard.

but it wasn't always this way...

he was brought to justice here in charleston's battery park

as its streets.

surrounded by water charleston's location,

at the mouths of the ashley and cooper rivers,

made the city and its port particularly vulnerable

to invaders from the atlantic.

in the early 1700s, the infamous blackbeard

plundered vessels anchored in charleston harbor,

holding their cargo and passengers for ransom.

blackbeard escaped capture in south carolina,

but another equally colorful pirate named stede bonnet

wasn't so lucky.

and many of its residents, have been just as colorful

overlooking the harbor.

stede was an unlikely buccaneer.

some called him the gentleman pirate.

he was once a wealthy landowner in barbados,

but legend says that marital problems

drove him to a life of crime.

he bought an old sloop, revenge,

and plundered vessels up and down the east coast

before he was finally captured in the carolinas.

on december 10, 1718, stede was brought here

in the 1930s, a preservationist named dorothy legge

but at the time,

the city was already showing signs of its age.

many 18th century buildings, including these,

which stood in the heart of

commercial district, charleston's former

were falling into disrepair.

after the civil war, plantation profits plummeted,

and many wealthy landowners had a hard time

maintaining their properties.

as a local saying goes, the owners became too poor to paint,

but too proud to whitewash.

better than a family called the withers.

wanted to see if she could turn things around.

she began restoring two of these historic buildings,

which date from the 1700s.

soon, others followed.

the owners decided to paint their houses

the colors of the rainbow to help draw attention

architectural history. to charleston's rich

today, these iconic buildings are known around the world

as rainbow row.

from its earliest days, charleston's history,

the ellis island of slavery.

will enable it to survive winds up to 125 miles per hour

and help keep ships safely offshore.

was the port of call but once, sullivan's island

slave ships. for many of the world's

historians estimate that as many as 40%

of the millions of african slaves

disembarked here. that arrived on america's shores

those who survived the voyage from africa

were quarantined on the island

before being sold in the slave markets of charleston.

has been called it's why the area

its rigid triangular shape

in 1989, the writer toni morrison

noted that amazingly, there was no suitable memorial, plaque,

or even wreath on the island to pay proper tribute

to the hundreds of thousands of slaves who landed here.

played an important role sullivan's island has also

in the defense of charleston and its harbor,

thanks to fort moultrie.

walls were constructed of logs when it was built, the fort's

made from freshly cut palmetto trees.

during the revolutionary war, this wood proved to be

surprisingly resilient against cannon shot

of modern guerrilla warfare. some claim that he's the father

named francis marion

who rallied a band of fighters

to launch hit-and-run assaults on british regiments.

the men were called marion's brigade.

with the british hot on his trail,

marion took refuge in this swampy forest

just 30 miles north of charleston.

unable to catch him, the british nicknamed marion the swamp fox.

to this day, historians debate whether francis marion

was a terrorist or a hero

for independence. in america's fight

and helped colonial forces repel a british naval siege.

with such colorful exploits, it's no wonder that filmmakers

drew inspiration from marion's life

the patriot,

starring mel gibson as the swamp fox.

with so many hurricanes slamming south carolina's coast,

building anything here can be risky...

for disaster. unless it's engineered

a tower rises

coastal islands. over one of south carolina's

this lighthouse was built with just three sides for a reason.

the first of these estates were built when british lords

of all the rice grown in the u.s. and at one point

exported more rice than any other port in the world.

gold was once the preferred rice it's been said that carolina

of the emperor of china.

the end of slavery drove most of these coastal plantations

out of business.

but a few old structures remain in the swamp,

like this house built on stilts to protect residents

from flooding and storms, a common practice to this day.

coastal rice plantations while most of south carolina's

are gone, many other plantation houses inland remain.

georgetown county alone once produced close to half

awarded large tracts of land here to english settlers,

in order to farm rice, cotton, and other cash crops.

powered by slave labor,

the output of these once giant farms was astounding.

by the dawn of the american revolution,

plantations here had already produced

a million pounds of the plant indigo,

from which was produced a distinctive blue dye.

indigo exports helped make south carolina

britain's wealthiest colony.

a haven for migrating birds.

eventually became it's why the palmetto tree

the state symbol and appears on the south carolina flag.

south carolina has 187 miles of coastline,

but that number can be deceptive.

beaches and barrier islands behind the state's pristine

lie nearly 3,000 miles of shoreline.

much of it lies here

greatest waterways-- in one of the country's

the mouth of the santee river.

the eastern seaboard. it's the largest delta on

mile after mile of twisting inlets and salt marshes--

one of them was a plantation owner and soldier

most desired commodities by 1690, one of the world's

was produced here on the coast--

a variety of rice called carolina gold.

slaves worked and shaped these marshes to create

what were some of the largest rice plantations on earth.

growing rice here was backbreaking work.

slaves cut ditches and built embankments

to control the salinity of the water,

while trying to avoid alligators and poisonous snakes.

biggest commodity. rice became south carolina's

naming it burroughs' widow proposed

and transport it up the east coast.

burroughs died before the tracks were completed,

but his sons finished his work.

soon, vacationers were hitching rides

on the lumber trains to reach the beach.

in 1901 the budding resort had its very first hotel--

the seaside inn.

long since demolished,

the inn was at the center of what's now downtown.

that same year a contest was held

to give the up-and-coming town a proper name.

to get his timber onto ships

after the myrtle evergreen shrub that grew along the shore.

she won the contest and the name myrtle beach was born.

at the turn of the century, empty lots here

were purportedly sold for just 25 dollars a piece.

today they can be worth millions,

even though the beach they're on is shrinking.

studies are showing that parts of the grand strand

and lose up to 8 inches of beach every year to erosion.

every few years the state spends tens of millions of dollars

to replenish the beach.

coastal forests reclaimed his fields

in the mid 1700s

they received large land grants along the coast

and cleared forests to make fields.

but in 1822, the gift of that property turned to tragedy

when a hurricane swept the home of robert withers

into the ocean.

18 people had sought refuge in the house from the storm,

but 14 of them drowned.

after withers watched the storm carry away

his wife and five children, he abandoned the land

his family had held here for generations.

offshore, a dredge gathers sand from the bottom of the sea

and the area remained largely uninhabited...

that is until a lumber baron arrived with a vision

that would transform miles of pristine coastline

into the popular towns and beaches they are today.

it started after the civil war,

when a businessman named f.g. burroughs

built a lumber mill nearby.

burroughs logged the longleaf pine trees

that still grow abundantly here.

he started laying railroad tracks across the swamp

this is the francis marion national forest.

by a category 5 hurricane-- the most powerful.

but every hurricane season coastal residents

in myrtle beach and other towns up and down the coast

turn their eyes to the sea

and track each new weather system that moves north,

just in case the next great storm is headed their way.

that can be hit hard but it's not just the coast

by natural disasters.

southwest of the grand strand

lies more than a quarter of a million acres

of wild, swampy land and giant cypress trees.

so far this state has not yet been hit

in 1989, hurricane hugo leveled more than 30% of the forest,

and stripped the leaves from the cypress trees,

leaving them vulnerable to forest fires.

but it remains a haven for wildlife,

including the canada geese that migrate here every winter.

at the end of the american revolution, the forest was home

to a famous freedom fighter known as the swamp fox.

when british forces took control of south carolina in 1780,

the siege of charleston, in what's known as

many in the colony continued to fight for their independence.

south carolina lies in hurricane alley.

and sends it to a pumping station.

here, giant pumps deliver the slurry of sand to shore

via steel pipes.

once it arrives,

bulldozers spread the new sand and shape the beach.

an amphibious tripod armed with gps, known as the crab,

allows surveyors to map the shoreline

and carefully determine how much new sand is needed.

the replenished beaches cause storm surges to break

safely far away from shore,

protecting the beachfront property.

south carolina...

every june brings a new hurricane season.

no one knows if and when the next big storm will hit,

but when they do the damage can be catastrophic.

one hurricane system called the great storm of 1893

killed an estimated 2,000 people on the coast.

in 1989 hurricane hugo was one of the most powerful

recent storms to hit the state.

winds gusted up to 160 miles per hour

and coastal waters surged 20 feet,

causing 7 billion dollars in damage and killing 35 people.