Company

Introduction
The Stevens family has been in South Carolina since the late 17th century.  From Colonial times to the present day, the Stevens have recognized the needs of the community at-large.  Throughout history, they have responded by providing service, invention and ingenuity.  

While some of the family migrated south to Georgia , the direct descendents of the Stevens family remained in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina .  Moving closer to the coastline proved to be the beginning of a promising destination for generations to come.

18th to 19th Century
The Stevens family witnessed and survived several important historical changes.  From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, the Stevens persevered in occupations such as Doctors, Ministers, Storekeepers and Planters.  

Transportation by roads was difficult because of flooding and lack of maintenance.  Carriages and horseback were the most common modes of transportation, especially inland.  Oxcarts were often used to bring produce and goods to landings for transport by rivers.  Brothers, Joseph Stanyarne and William Yates Stevens, acknowledged the need for reliable water transportation from Edisto Island to Charleston, and points in between.  In the late 1800’s (estimated about 1878), the company, Stevens Brothers began providing service after purchasing their first boat, the Mary Draper.

The 1900's:
n 1903, the Stevens Brothers were expanding, and so was the family.  Both brothers had married and each had a son.  

More boats were needed to handle the burgeoning market, for not only produce and supplies, but also passengers depending on reliable transportation.  The company name changed to Stevens Line Company and remained that after incorporation in 1913 until the 1970’s.  The name then became Stevens Towing Company, Inc.  

They went into hauling produce such as cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers and beans. Farmers would bring their crops out to the freight boat in their small boats. It was brought to Yonges Island to be put on the train to carry into Charleston. The next week, William Johnson Stevens would go back to the farmers to pay them for what was sold or return the empty baskets for goods that were not sold. Sometimes he hated to have to give the bad news that the produce did not sell.  

Around 1962 the dock at Yonges Island burned down.

Today, Stevens operates ten tugs and towboats.  We have about thirty barges and about one hundred employees.  Some of the employees are second generation.

See historical and recent photos of Stevens Towing