Tabby (cement)

Tabby is a building material consisting of lime, sand, water, and crushed oyster shells. It was made and used on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida in the Southern United States during the Colonial Period up until the early 1800s as a substitute for bricks, which were rare and expensive because of the absence of local clay. The name comes from the Spanish word, "tapia", which means "mud wall".

External links

* [http://beaufortcountylibrary.org/rooms/documents/html/tabby.htm Tabby: The Oyster Shell Concrete of the Lowcountry] , an article from the Beaufort County Public Library.

* [http://www.state.ga.us/dnr/histpres/tabby/cbrooker.html The Conservation and Repair of Tabby in Beaufort County, South Carolina] , revised version of an informal talk, "The Conservation of Tabby in Beaufort County, South Carolina," given by Colin Brooker of Brooker Architectural Design Consultants at Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Jekyll Island, Georgia, on February 25, 1998.