<Tr> <Th> NRHP Reference #</Th> <Td> 78002492 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Added to NRHP </Th> <Td> November 21, 1978 </Td> </Tr> <P> Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an 8,095 - acre (32.76 km) 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

Where is parris island marine boot camp located