The Setting The Hobcaw Barony includes 17,500 acres on the South Carolina coast outside the city of Georgetown and is privately owned by the Belle W . Baruch Foundation . The Foundation , established in 1964 , was created through the vision of Belle Wilcox Baruch . Its primary mission is to conserve Hobcaw Barony ’ s unique natural and cultural resources for research and education .
The Barony encompasses a rich diversity of every common ecosystem found on the South Carolina coast , making it a perfect setting for environmental science studies . It consists of wetlands , former rice fields , upland hardwood and pine forests , and barrier islands . Additionally , it includes cultural sites that were part of the original plantation , including cemeteries , slave cabins , and the Baruch ’ s homes .
The Barony encompasses the tidal marshes and wetlands of the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve . North Inlet is an ocean-dominated estuary featuring high water quality and far-reaching salt marshes surrounded by an extensive forested watershed that is currently in a relatively undeveloped state .
Fresh water to the Inlet drains from Hobcaw Barony and nearby DeBordieu Colony , a watershed that includes much of Hobcaw Barony and mostly undeveloped lands extending north to Pawley ’ s Island . Winyah Bay is a brackish water estuary dominated by input from the Waccamaw , Sampit , Black , and Pee Dee Rivers .
The Institute Established in 1969 , the Belle W . Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences is housed within the University of South Carolina ’ s College of Art and Sciences . The Institute ’ s field laboratory is located within the Hobcaw Barony and provides researchers and scientists a living laboratory for conducting studies in undisturbed coastal habitats .
Access to the Institute is down an unpaved road from SC 17 . Once there , visitors can participate in informal seminars presented by Institute scientists , take short courses designed
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