MCRD Parris Island

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Parris Island, South Carolina
MCRD Parris Island logo
Type	Military base
Site information
Owner	United States
Controlled by	United States Marine Corps
Site history
Built	1861
In use	1915–present
Garrison information
Current commander	BGen Austin Renforth 06/2016-present
Past commanders	Brigadier General Lori Reynolds
Garrison	Recruit Training Regiment (1st–4th Battalions) Support Battalion Headquarters & Service Battalion Weapons & Field Training Battalion 6th Marine Corps District
Parris Island Drydock and Commanding Generals House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	32°21′0″N 80°40′18″W / 32.35000°N 80.67167°W / 32.35000; -80.67167Coordinates: 32°21′0″N 80°40′18″W / 32.35000°N 80.67167°W / 32.35000; -80.67167
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
NRHP Reference #	78002492
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1978

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an 8,095 acres (32.76 km²) military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. MCRD Parris Island is used for the training of enlisted Marines. Male recruits living east of the Mississippi River and female recruits from all over the United States report here to receive their initial training. Male recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive their training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, but may train at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island by special request.

A French Huguenot expedition, led by Jean Ribault in 1562, was the first European group to attempt to colonize Parris Island. Earlier Spanish expeditions had sighted the area, and named it "Punta de Santa Elena", which now remains one of the oldest continuously used European place names in the United States. The French expedition built an outpost named Charlesfort, and Ribault left a small garrison as he returned to France for colonists and supplies. After a long absence, due to Ribault's delay from wars in Europe, Charlesfort was abandoned after the garrison mutinied, built a ship on the island, and sailed back to France in April 1563. In 1566 the Spanish, led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded a settlement named Santa Elena which became the capital of La Florida for the next decade. Spain finally abandoned Santa Elena in 1587. England took control of the region by the 17th century, and Parris Island became home to British plantations after being purchased by Colonel Alexander Parris, treasurer of the South Carolina colony, in 1715. From the 1720s to the Civil War, the island was divided into a number of plantations, initially growing indigo, then later cotton. During and after the Civil War, the island became home to freed slaves, and was a site of freedmen schools taught by abolitionists such as Frances Gage and Clara Barton.