Bluffton buys ‘historically significant’ 80-year-old home in Old Town. What’s coming?
The Town of Bluffton has purchased the 80-year-old Sarah Riley Hooks Cottage, a “historically significant” one-story home along Bridge Street in Old Town, officials announced this week.
Bluffton bought the home, located at 76 Bridge Street, and its surrounding .896 acre-property for $475,000 from North Carolina-based owners Kehinde Thomas and Tavi Fields. The town closed on the deal Dec. 31.
Officials plan to stabilize and restore the home, similar to the town’s restoration of The Garvey-Garvin House at Oyster Factory Park, the town said. Town council, staff and stakeholders will discuss “possible uses” of the property at future workshops and government meetings, the announcement said.
Mayor Lisa Sulka said she was “thrilled” for the “rare opportunity” to purchase the property.
“The Sarah Riley Hooks Cottage is another historic asset which the Town can add to its public portfolio and together with the Bluffton community, we will take steps to preserve this structure and its stories for years to come,” she said.
The home was built around 1940 by Michael C. Riley, a prominent Black store owner and Bluffton resident. Riley was the first Black person to be appointed as a trustee to the Beaufort County Board of Education. The first Michael C. Riley elementary and high school on Goethe Road was named in his honor until it was demolished in 1990.
The site of the school is now known as the M.C. Riley Sports Complex. An elementary school on Burnt Church Road is also named after him.
Riley’s daughter, Sarah Riley Hooks, was born on the property in 1922, according to the town. One of Bluffton’s first home health care nurses, Riley Hooks lived at the home until her death in 2002.
Riley Hooks’ son, Tony Hooks, was the former lead guitarist in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Sly and the Family Stone.
Sulka said the it could take years to “stabilize, preserve and re-purpose” the property.
“We have accomplished an important first step by acquiring the property and now, the multi-year, multi-phase work of converting this house into a usable historic site begins,” she said.
