A Brief History of the Trawler Restaurant

There are certain places in the United States that are synonymous with seafood. Maine, of course, has lobster. Scuttle down the seaboard just a bit and you’ll reach the shores of Calabash, North Carolina and its delectable delicacies. A little farther, and you’ll reach… Charleston, South Carolina.

A tiny inlet in the heart of Mount Pleasant is named Shem Creek. Shem is derived from the word “shemee” of unknown meaning from the Sewee tribe of the Eastern Sioux nation who originally inhabited the area. What might you find located on these shores of Shem Creek? A lack of parking, yes. But, also? Seafood!

Shrimping and fishing were a huge part of the economic culture of the area at the time and remain so to this day. Shipbuilding would define Shem Creek in the 1700s and the 1800s including trawlers. These commercial vessels were built to drag trawls – fishing nets pulled along the bottom of the sea – to catch anything and everything delicious enough to cook and eat.

While the ships would come and go from the docks of the Creek, this land wasn’t used for shopping and supping like it is today. Not until 1960… Walter and Lillian Toler had other ideas. “What about waterfront dining?” they asked. Formerly a fishermen’s bunkhouse, the Lorelei Seafood Restaurant opened as the sole eatery servicing this specific area of Mount Pleasant. Says the Post and Courier, “[The Lorelei] quickly became popular with area residents, who swore by the platters of freshly caught seafood; complimentary cups of Lowcountry fish stew and the crab dip served with crackers.”

Brilliant ideas are bound to be copied. And copied they were. Opened in 1967, The Trawler was originally an oyster bar. Charlestonians and Lowcountry visitors alike flocked to the smaller establishment to slurp up mollusk after mollusk. An almost immediate expansion was planned.

Cobbled together on the legs of the original structure, the Trawler became a 15 room, 500 capacity behemoth with a salad bar. Snuggled away between the mini-mansions, waterway and storefronts, business was good.

You’ve heard James Taylor sing, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain?” Well, in 1989, a fire would break out burning Trawler to the ground. Then, after completely being rebuilt that same year, in September, Hurricane Hugo barreled through the Carolinas razing the building to the ground once again. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the restaurant would be rebuilt a second time only to succumb to bankruptcy a full two decades later.

The Trawler is no more. Replacing it is Tavern and Table leaving only the famous recipe for their crab dip…

Trawler Crab Dip

1 Cup (8oz) Canned Lump Crab Meat

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1⁄2 Cup Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

2 Tablespoons French Dressing

1 to 1 1⁄2 Teaspoon Horseradish

The ebb and flow of history has swept one restaurant out to rest in the deep while laying another at our shore. But one shining beacon remains: the lightless lighthouse at 100 Church Street, Mt. Pleasant, SC.

~ Brandon L. Joyner