The story of Bull Point.

Yamassee & the land

Before the modern community, this peninsula was part of a landscape lived in and shaped by Indigenous peoples. Archaeological work at Bull Point identifies a Yamassee occupation, described in the research documents as Yamasee, thought to be associated with Huspa Town.

In his April 2, 2019 archaeological proposal, Dr. Eric C. Poplin of Brockington and Associates described the occupation and noted that the State Historic Preservation Office had determined the investigated site eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This is evidence of the land’s cultural importance; eligibility is distinct from listing on the Register.

The archaeological record connects the community to people’s daily lives through recovered artifacts and plant remains. The 2019 proposal called for further laboratory and ethnobotanical analysis, a technical report, agency review, and permanent curation. The proposal reflects a commitment to understanding and preserving this heritage.

William Bull & Sheldon

Bull Point takes its name from William Bull. The community’s historical account records his purchase of approximately 6,000 acres in 1729 from Thomas Lowndes, including much of the land later associated with Bull Point. He called the tract Sheldon Plantation.

Bull helped James Oglethorpe lay out Savannah and later served as South Carolina’s lieutenant governor and acting governor. Nearby Old Sheldon Church connects his life to the wider history of Prince William Parish.

This colonial landscape was also shaped by plantation agriculture and enslaved people’s labor. Its history includes dispossession and unequal power as well as the buildings, names, and landscapes that remain.

A waterfront community takes shape

Stan Kirkland and Robert Wolfson envisioned a community whose homes would belong within the maritime forest and waterfront landscape. Their regional experience included communities such as Vivian’s Island. Bull Point’s vision began in 1994, followed by the land acquisition in 1995.

Through Bull Point, LLC, the founders began a phased community of homesites, shared places, and preserved natural spaces. The character of the land became central to the way the community would grow.

Documenting the Yamassee story

Archaeological investigations at Bull Point were underway in 2000. Georgia Southern University records a report by Kara Bridgman Sweeney and Eric C. Poplin, prepared for Bull Point, LLC.

The later Brockington proposal explains that this work began under an agreement involving the State Historic Preservation Office and the original developers, with coastal regulatory oversight. Archaeology formed part of the responsibility of developing this historically significant landscape.

Keeping the vision alive

Following the 2008 market downturn, residents, association leaders and community stewards kept Bull Point’s vision moving forward. Dick Lovett, Director of Operations from 2005 to 2014, was among those who helped sustain the community.

In 2012, co-founder Stan Kirkland approached Billy Gavigan of Gavigan Group about Bull Point. Their connection laid the foundation for a new era of investment and completion.

The community’s next chapter

Four years after Stan Kirkland first approached him, Billy Gavigan of Gavigan Group purchased Bull Point from DB Astor in 2016.

The purchase created the foundation for the 2017–2022 completion program led through Bull Point SC, LLC: finishing the development, updating amenities, completing utilities, and carrying the community toward member stewardship.

Completing the promise

From 2017 through 2022, Billy Gavigan of Gavigan Group led the completion of Bull Point’s development through Bull Point SC, LLC. Gavigan also acquired Bull Point, LLC and Old South Properties, bringing the development and real estate businesses into the effort to finish the community’s original vision.

Bull Point SC, LLC was Gavigan’s entity responsible for finishing the development. The work extended beyond new homesites: his team updated the amenities, completed outstanding community utilities, installed loop power and internet infrastructure, and addressed the development and compliance obligations needed to bring the community into full compliance.

The result was a completed development and a transition to member stewardship. The Property Owners Association is independently member-managed; HG Group’s continuing homebuilding and real estate work is a separate role.

2019. A defining day for Bull Point.

Gavigan and his team led the sale of more than 60 lots in a single day in 2019—a milestone that reset Bull Point’s market and brought fresh energy to its next chapter. That renewed confidence helped move the community forward, alongside investment in infrastructure, amenities and new homes.

Preservation & partnership

During the development completion period, archaeological stewardship remained part of the work. Brockington’s April 2019 proposal to Billy Gavigan addressed completing analysis, reporting, and curation for the Yamassee investigation.

Contemporaneous WSAV coverage, summarized in Gavigan’s preservation record, describes dialogue among Yamassee leadership, archaeologists, homeowners, and the development team. The shared objective was to protect the history while planning responsibly for the community’s future.

A conservation decision: 45 becomes five

Bull Point SC, LLC reduced the approved density of Phase VII from 45 homesites to just five paddocks across 153 acres. Billy Gavigan describes the paddocks as approximately 25–60 acres each.

The adopted plan removed 40 approved homesites, an approximately 89% density reduction. This decision carried the community’s conservation approach into its final phase, with larger landholdings and fewer homes.

The members’ next chapter

The development story records the conveyance of remaining development rights to property owners in 2021, within Gavigan’s broader 2017–2022 completion period. The community was turned over to its members.

Today, the independent, member-managed Property Owners Association oversees community life and shared places. HG Group, led by Billy Gavigan and Stacey Hall, continues its connection to Bull Point through homebuilding and real estate services.

The setting endures because each generation takes responsibility for it—from the people who first lived here to the residents writing its next chapter.