Folly Beach has always been a place where stories take root.
On Friday, September 25, members of the Folly Beach community gathered along West Ashley Avenue to celebrate one of the island’s most remarkable stories with the unveiling of a new historical marker at the Porgy House.
The City of Folly Beach, Folly Beach Historical Society, and Folly Beach Tourism and Promotion Committee joined community members, special guests, and relatives of figures connected to the home’s history for the occasion. Together, they recognized a place that helped connect Folly Beach with one of the most celebrated works in American music and theater.
A Creative Retreat on Folly Beach
Built in 1933, the Porgy House served as the summer retreat of author DuBose Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward. The following summer, composer George Gershwin came to Folly Beach, where he worked with DuBose Heyward on what would become the opera Porgy and Bess, based on Heyward’s 1925 novel Porgy…