A Tour of Historic Beaufort, South Carolina

Eric bought a Groupon for a historic walking tour in Beaufort with Beaufort Tours LLC.

Our tour guide, Kelly, is having
trouble with her foot, so she
brought the van for our tour.

Kelly is a local & loves sharing
the history of Beaufort &
the surrounding area.





The Spanish first claimed this region in the 1500s.  The French followed and their fledgling settlement failed.  In 1663 this land was charted by the British and named Carolina in honor of King Charles I.

Cotton was introduced to this region in the late 1700s.  It was grown on plantations on the nearby barrier islands.  The plantation owners would live on the islands from the fall to early spring and then move to their homes in Beaufort, where the summer climate was not as hot and sticky as on the islands.

The slavery debate affected regional and national politics in the United States for decades. Abraham Lincoln's in 1860 was intolerable to southern states.  The first state to secede from the Union was South Carolina on December 20, 1860.

South Carolinians went about their business as usual after secession.  In March 1861, plantation owners and their family were returning to Beaufort as they had for many years.  On November 7, 1861, Federal ships bombarded the forts at Port Royal and overwhelmed them.  News of the battle was brought to Beaufort and the residents of the city fled.  Federal troops entered Beaufort to find it deserted.  This city was spared the scars of war.

Having taken Port Royal, The North used the port to repair, reinforce and rename Confederate ships for battle.  Injured Union troops were brought to the city for medical treatment.

Many of the antebellum homes in Beaufort survived the Civil War and are enjoyed by visitors from all over the world.  I've included a small number of historic buildings in this historic city.

The George Elliott House

was built in 1844.

The Leverett House was
built in 1810.

The John A. Cuthbert House

was built in 1810.

The Thomas Rhett House,
built in 1820, is now an Inn.

The Lewis Reeve Sams

House was built

in 1852.

Carteret Street United
Methodist Church

The William Joseph Thomas

 House was built after the

Fire of 1907 with fireproof

materials.

Saint Peter's Catholic
Church was built
in 1846.

This house has one of my

favorite features...

A door on the corner

of the building.

The John Mark Verdier

House was built

in 1804.

Tabernacle Baptist Church
was built in 1840.

This Queen Anne House

has a beautiful turret.

The Beaufort National Cemetery

has several thousand

 Civil War graves.

Confederate General Richard H.

Anderson's grave is in the

Confederate section of the

cemetery. 

It is one of 109 Confederate

graves.

The monument dedicated to

Union soldiers buried at

Beaufort National Cemetery.

These plain blocks mark the

graves of the unknown

soldiers.

Many of them are from 

Georgia prison camps.

The graves of Union
soldiers.

Today, there are more than 14,000 graves at the Beaufort National Cemetery.

Kelly gave a great tour of Beaufort.  We learned about the city's history and got the inside story of Beaufort's famous visitors including Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Sally Field. Many movies have been filmed in Beaufort and the surrounding area.

Author Pat Conroy is a long time resident.   His books, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films.  The Prince of Tides was filmed in this area.