Yamasee Territory & Migration Routes
From South Carolina Lowcountry to Florida's Interior: A 300-Mile Journey of Survival and Continuity
This map documents the core Yamasee homeland in South Carolina (1680s-1715) and the migration routes to Spanish Florida following the Yamasee War of 1715-1716. All locations are verified through colonial records, federal land patents, census documentation, and archaeological sites.
The core Yamasee homeland in the South Carolina Lowcountry encompassed four principal counties:
- ▸Beaufort County — Primary coastal settlements
- ▸Hampton County — Inland communities, Town of Yemassee
- ▸Jasper County — Southern territory near Savannah River
- ▸Colleton County — Northern boundary, Combahee River
A 1707 South Carolina colonial act officially defined "Yamosee Settlement" boundaries extending from the Combahee River to the Savannah River.
- ▸Pocotaligo — Principal town; site where Yamasee War began (1715)
- ▸Yemassee — Major settlement; town still exists today in Hampton County
- ▸Altamaha Town — Along Okatie River; now Altamaha Town Heritage Preserve
- ▸Huspah — Coastal settlement
- ▸Tomatly — Northern settlement
- ▸Euhaw — Near present-day Beaufort
James Washington Wright named DeLand's Black neighborhood "Yemassee" — the same name as the historic town in Hampton County, South Carolina, located in the heart of Yamasee territory.
This naming choice strongly indicates that Wright or his family maintained direct ties to Yamasee country in the South Carolina Lowcountry before migrating to Florida in the late 19th century.
"The land remembers. The families remember. The names remember."
Ministry of Yamasee Affairs | House of Day Express Trust