Farrell: Reminders of Bombay Social Club crop up in Singleton Beach flower beds
Some residents of Singleton Beach on Hilton Head Island are able to grow glass.
It's a wicked trick that doesn't require water, sun nor an ounce of effort.
The secret is in the soil's history.
And its location.
In this mid-island spot 18 years ago -- now occupied by tall, stylish million-dollar beachfront homes and vacation rentals -- bulldozers flattened the Bombay Social Club, which was once the heart of Singleton Beach, one of the area's only beaches where black people were allowed to swim and spend the day picnicking with family and friends during segregation.
The club's demise came after a long, angry and racially charged battle in the mid- and late-1990s with developers and with the club's new neighbors, wealthy homeowners who were not so hot on the late-night and early-morning noise, crowds, traffic and occasional violence the club soon became known for.
Lawsuits were filed.
Deputies were hospitalized.
Politicians were pressed.
A developer offered to buy the property from John Moore, who ran the nightclub and lived in a trailer on the land.
Moore initially refused.
"How many black people in the United States have waterfront property?" he said to a Carolina Morning News reporter at the time. "Land is more valuable than money. They don't make any more land."
In September 1997, after years of resisting, though, Moore sold the land to the developer.
All that is left now of the Bombay Social Club are memories and the bits and bottles that regularly rise to the surface of residents' property.
"Seldom do I dig, plant or weed in my yard that I do not find some old piece of bottle glass," homeowner and full-time resident Linda Vingelen said. "You can plant your mums one year, and the next year you'll find a whole new archaeological layer."
Earlier this month, Vingelen and friends from the community shared bloody Marys with all the trimmings before planting dozens of tulips at the neighborhood's entrance.
"We retirees have to get in the mood," Vingelen said of the drinks, which she made.
The tulips were flown in from the Netherlands. The Vingelens vacationed there earlier this year and enjoyed a trip to the Keukenhof Garden in Holland, which some have described as the most beautiful garden in the world.
They wanted to share the colorful flowers they saw there with their neighbors, even though they're unsure whether the bulbs will bloom.
Tulips aren't native to this area.
Then again, neither are most of the residents who now live here.
"I'm cautiously optimistic," HOA president Julie Hallquist wrote in an email. "We followed the prescribed planting suggestions from Clemson and, with any luck, we'll see beds of yellow and red this spring."
Vingelen said she's expecting the tulips to be a one-year special moment for the neighborhood, though she's not certain when they'll see flowers.
"That's a good question because, of course, the South has its own timetable."
For their efforts and future patience, the group was rewarded with a single glass bloom to take with them, a squat brown bottle they found when digging in the soil of the mass bed.
"It's almost as if they rise from the bowels of the Earth," Vingelen said.
During segregation, beachgoers from Beaufort and Savannah would come to Hilton Head to spend the day in the sun with family members. Noted black professionals from Savannah bought property in the area to build vacation homes.
On Sundays, which was the only day the Bombay Social Club was open, people would come straight from church, still in their finest.
Moore usually began cooking at 10 a.m.
"He was one of the best cooks. We had a great time there," a former patron named Sidney told me.
Sidney asked that I not use his last name because he didn't want to "get caught up in the politics."
"I'm integration, baby," he told me.
Among Sidney's favorite Bombay dishes were Moore's fried chicken, deviled crab and hamburgers.
"They had a menu. Everything on it was good."
Were there bloody Marys?
"No, no, no, no, no," he laughed. "Nothing like that."
Sidney said Moore was known for keeping the peace.
"There were very little fights (there)," he said.
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office would have to disagree, of course. In May 1997, deputies were attempting to make an arrest after a shooting near the club at 3 a.m. when a group of 50 club-goers charged them.
Four deputies were hospitalized after being kicked and stomped.
"We are going to clean the club up, even if it means putting the club out of business," southern division commander Capt. Darryl Butler said at the time.
Moore pointed out that the melee did not happen in the club or on his property.
"I don't know anything about what happened down the road from my club," he said.
Follow columnist and senior editor Liz Farrell at twitter.com/elizfarrell and facebook.com/elizfarrell.
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This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Farrell: Reminders of Bombay Social Club crop up in Singleton Beach flower beds."