A good "Once Upon a Time" story was one description of the founding of Wachesaw Plantation in Murrells Inlet nearly 25 years ago during festivities held recently.
Nestled on the banks of the Waccamaw River on the northern tip of the Waccamaw Neck, Wachesaw's founding fathers, including well-known local A.H. "Doc" Lachicotte, envisioned a quality development off the oceanfront for full-time residents.
Katherine Durning, a Wachesaw Plantation Club member and club historian, said that because of Lachicotte's vision "we all get to be here and live happily ever after!"
Her comments were made during an official ceremony Saturday, April 26, marking the dedication of the lake on Riverwood Drive in Wachesaw as "Lake Lachicotte." A plaque unveiled at the ceremony will be permanently mounted on the fishing pier overlooking the lake crediting Doc with having the vision to create a highly desirable community from two historic rice plantations that graced the land some 200 years ago.
A weekend-long event to honor the founding members of Wachesaw included a surprise visit from major investor Olan Mills II, of Olan Mills Portrait Studios, a worldwide leader in portrait photography. Mills and the other investors were recruited by Lachicotte after he learned the property where he once worked as a young man was slated to become a mobile home park.
Family and business associates of Lachicotte's, along with some local investors, purchased the property, and Lachicotte set out to develop it.
It has been said that Doc Lachicotte "prayed up every blade of grass" on the plantation. Residents say his dedication to quality in the construction phase of the development was molded by his philosophy of "selling the experience, not the property."
Other events of the Founders' Day weekend included a private reception on Kimbel's Bluff hosted by founding members Wilson and Sandra Springs. The Springs' family, including Wilson and his brothers Albert and the late Dr. Holmes Springs, was heavily invested in the development of Wachesaw.
The dedication at Lake Lachicotte included a Kids' Fishing Derby. A champagne toast to Doc Lachicotte preceded the presentation of the commemorative plaque.
While he said he was honored to be recognized, he admitted shyly to the crowd that "none of this would have happened without Olan Mills."