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The History of SeeWee Restaurant
The name Seewee came
from an Indian tribe in the Awendaw area. The Seewee Building was built as a general store in the early 1920's. We purchased
it from the original owner in the 1960's and operated it as a General Store for many years, before opening the SeeWee Restaurant
in 1993. The old shelving, well worn painted floors, tongue and groove paneling and red tin roof are all reminiscent of another
way of life.
A Little More History
The place where our restaurant is located was called Wappetaw. It was settled
by a group from New England in 1696.
They formed a church called the Wappetaw Independent Congregational Church. The Church
has been gone since the late 1800's and all that remains are a few markers. This site is located on Fifteen Mile Landing Road,
directly behind our restaurant. This particular area abounds with history and has been of interest to historians for many
years. If time and weather permits, it would be worth an after dinner stroll to see this interesting local landmark.
The
Seewee Indians were a small tribe and at their largest, probably totaled no more than 100. They were akin to the Sioux linguistically,
and their name is thought to mean "island" or "island people". They often hunted and fished on the offshore barrier islands
(their "hunting" islands), known today as Bull's, Caper's, Dewee's, and Isle of Palms. In fact, it was a party of Seewee braves
hunting at Bull's Island (they called it Oneiscau) in March 1670, who first welcomed the Carolina, the ship bringing the original
group of English colonists to Carolina shores. One of their main villages was a place call "Avendaugh-bough", now abbreviated
to "Awendaw". At some time prior to 1700, the tribe was virtually obliterated when they attempted to sail to England in canoes
to trade their deer skins directly with the English King. Only the very old and very young remained behind. Tragically, they
were barely out of sight of land when they were hit by a storm. Most drowned. The remaining unlucky survivors were picked
up by a passing ship and sold into slavery in the Caribbean where they quickly died. By 1715, the total remaining Seewee population
was estimated at only 57 remaining.
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