Originally occupied by the Sewee Indians, Mount Pleasant's first white settlers arrived from England on July 6, 1680 under the leadership of Captain Florentia O'Sullivan. Captain O'Sullivan had been granted 2,340 acres which included not only an island that bears his name, but also what was to become Mount Pleasant. On the earliest map of the time, this area was called "North Point".

In 1696, 51 new settlers arrived to the area. Each family was allotted several hundred acres in the area that became known as Christ Church parish. In 1706 the Province of Carolina withstood several attacks by the Spanish and French and were victorious in defeating French invaders in an area known as "Abcaw".

The area of "Abcaw" was known as Hobcaw Plantation, located between Shem Creek & the Wando River. Later, it was known as Shipyard Plantation because its deep water & abundance of good timber made it ideal for a prosperous shipbuilding enterprise. Lands adjacent to Hobcaw Point were owned at different times by several families, many of whom maintained ferries serving Mount Pleasant.

In 1770 Andrew Hibben obtained a ferry charter and bought land from Jacob Motte on the south side of Shem Creek. Hibben's ferry was the first to connect Haddrell's Point with the city of Charleston.

Mount Pleasant played a leading role in the first major military engagement - and victory - of the Revolutionary War. When Charleston finally fell to the British on November 12, 1775, Cornwallis crossed the Cooper River with 2,500 troops and took possession of Haddrell's Point. The British headquarters is said to have been the home of Jacob Motte, later known as Hibben House.

The first small settlement to become a village was Greenwich. It was adjacent to Jacob Motte's "Mount Pleasant" estate and was the home plot of 100 acres belonging to Jonathon Scott. James Hibben (son of Andrew Hibben), who owned the waterfront property adjacent to Motte's, purchased "Mount Pleasant" in 1803 and divided it into 35 large lots. On December 20, 1837 the village of Greenwich was merged with Mount Pleasant and incorporated by an act of the Assembly.

In 1858 the limits of the town were extended to embrace Hilliardsville, an area acquired in 1847 by Charles Jugnot and Oliver Hilliard for a picnic ground. Hilliardsville included a grove of live oaks called Hort's Grove (now known as Alhambra Park). Lucasville, a settlement on Shem Creek, was merged with Mount Pleasant in 1872. SOURCE: Town of Mount Pleasant