Beech Island is an unincorporated community of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. It appears to take its name from Beech Island, a nearby former island that is politically part of Georgia but geographically separated from the rest of Georgia by a river which changed its bed. It was preceded by the trading post and fort at Savannah Town. Another popular explanation for the name of the community comes from the fact that beech trees populate the "high-land" bluff along the Savannah River where the community is located. Of course, how "high-land" was shortened to "island" is as much a mystery as the origin of the community's name. Beech Island's most famous resident was the late James Brown who lived there for the last few decades of his life on a 60-acre estate.