BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA
If These Streets Could Talk
Located on Port Royal Island, and in the heart of the Sea Islands and South Carolina Lowcountry, Beaufort’s 300 plus year history, and architectural and natural environment, have long captured the interest and imagination of educators, writers, travelers, and residents.
We invite you to experience Beaufort’s authentic history.
COLONIAL BEGINNINGS
Beaufort likely began as a British outpost, as early as 1706, in order to protect the inland passage. The original town plan contained 397 lots with two focal points: the bay, with strategic lots facing the water, and land reserved for public use on a square at the intersection of Carteret and Craven streets. The town limits extended west to present day Charles Street and north to Duke Street. Beaufort’s town plan was similar to the Grand Model of Charles Town laid out forty years earlier. Initially, naval stores and provision crops were the economic mainstay of the region around Beaufort; later in the colonial era rice, grown mostly on the mainland, and the cultivation of indigo, grown on the sea islands, combined with shipbuilding to form the basis of the local economy.
THE REVOLUTION
Beaufort had many ties to England through trade and society and many remained loyal to the Crown. But, when King George III’s government greatly increased taxes and ignored their constitutional rights, many locals joined in the Revolution. As British hopes for success faded in New York and Pennsylvania, the leaders began to look southward. Savannah was captured in 1778 and on a second attempt in July 1779, General Prevost managed to occupy Beaufort until 1782, when the British finally evacuated South Carolina once and for all. After the revolution, Beaufort planters held dominating roles in the new state legislature, the General Assembly. Federalists were responsible for the affirmative vote of the South Carolina ratification convention of 1788, in which South Carolina played a crucial role in the adoption of the United States Constitution.
Beaufort and the New Nation
After a brief period of economic depression following the Revolution, Beaufort rebounded, partly due to technical innovations and also to the important introduction of Sea Island Cotton. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, Beaufort’s boundaries were expanded east to include Black’s Island, or Black’s Point, while the northern city limit was expanded from Duke Street to Boundary Street. From 1790 to 1860, Beaufort experienced tremendous prosperity and many of Beaufort’s outstanding examples of residential architecture evolved into the “Beaufort Style.” Key elements of the style are houses constructed on large lots facing south, on a raised foundation, with low-pitched roofs and wide porticos or piazzas. A notable element of the Beaufort Style that evolved from the 1790’s through the 19th century was the use of a T-shape plan.
CIVIL WAR
When the federal government needed a base along the Atlantic for military operations and to blockade Confederate ports, they chose Beaufort and Hilton Head. In 1861, when General Thomas W. Sherman led a successful attack on Fort Walker, Hilton Head Island, and Fort Beauregard, Bay Point Island, the majority of the white inhabitants quickly “skedaddled,” leaving behind most of the enslaved people. Federally seized residences and plantations were confiscated as “abandoned lands,” which were then sold in direct tax sales. During the war years, Beaufort’s African-American population grew, especially as refugees from nearby plantations made their way into town seeking shelter and work. When former slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, they took part in the first efforts to assimilate freed blacks into the broader society as part of the Port Royal Experiment and with the establishment of Penn School freedmen were given access to educational opportunities. Redistribution of land, through the Direct Tax Sales, allowed many former slaves to purchase land for the first time.
Reconstruction
Following the war, Beaufort’s African-American community gained substantial political influence. With access to better education and property ownership, Beaufort became somewhat of a center for African-American freedmen during Reconstruction. By the 1870’s, Beaufort improved its economic situation with the introduction of phosphate mining and continued planting of its Sea Island cotton and rice. Boasting warmer winter climates and opportunities for hunting and fishing, Beaufort also became a winter resort for northerners. After a devastating hurricane in 1893 that drowned thousands, damaged buildings and destroyed phosphate mining, Beaufort rebounded again—this time with the introduction of truck farming and boosting tourism by converting some of its elegant mansions into lovely guest houses. The seafood industry, tourism and truck farming remained the most important economic activities throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Today, light manufacturing, military installations and tourism are considered the basis of Beaufort’s local economy. Every year new residents arrive, bringing ideas, gifts, and talents to be added to the vibrant, intellectual and cultural life of these magnificent sea islands. In 1944, when the 140-year-old John Mark Verdier House was condemned and slated for demolition, a group of Beaufortonians formally organized The Committee to Save the Lafayette Building to raise funds to renovate the Federal Period house and to retain it as an important part of the downtown streetscape. In 1965, the “Committee” merged into a new organization with a wider mission to preserve, protect and present the architectural and historic character of all of Beaufort. Soon, the Historic Beaufort Foundation was formally organized and chartered by the Secretary of State, and thus began the ongoing preservation effort that so proudly binds together the past, present, and future of South Carolina’s second oldest city.
The answer to that question is up to each of us.
Beaufort’s National Historic Landmark district is a precious resource standing at a turning point and we must be vigilant in order to retain what we hold dear. Infill development that ignores the small-scale rural character that evolved in Beaufort over three hundred years must not be lost. We must monitor the new Beaufort Code to determine if it is working and is providing the protections we need, while allowing for continuing viability and economic growth. Density, combined with inappropriate height, mass and scale of new construction will forever destroy what we treasure. New construction should speak to the evolution of Beaufort’s architectural character in a modern 21st century manner and not simply recall the past.
The authenticity of Beaufort’s Landmark District is its greatest charm. It is not a theme park; it is a town with a memory. Our 18th century city plan and scale are what new urbanists want to replicate. Our narrow streets with human-scaled buildings, set on large lots surrounded by trees that allow breezes from the river to blow through the city, is a cherished resource. Historic Beaufort is here to lead the effort but we must have your support.
The authenticity of Beaufort’s Landmark District is its greatest charm. It is not a theme park; it is a town with a memory. Our 18th century city plan and scale are what new urbanists want to replicate. Our narrow streets with human-scaled buildings, set on large lots surrounded by trees that allow breezes from the river to blow through the city, is a cherished resource. Historic Beaufort is here to lead the effort but we must have your support.