Beaufort County
76 places on the trail: 76 highway markers.
People of Beaufort County in Carolina Quotes
Colonial (pre-contact to 1763)
- 07-01BeaufortSecond Oldest Town In South Carolina/Authorized by the Lords Proprietors, December 20, 1710,/ Chartered January 17, 1711...
- 07-46Daufuskie IslandThis 5,200-acre island lies between the Cooper and New Rivers. Spanish and English explorers saw it in 1521 and 1663; En...
- 07-48Fairfield PlantationThis 756-acre plantation was established before the American Revolution by planter Benjamin Garden (1736-1789), for whom...
- 07-18Fish Hall PlantationThis plantation was part of a 1717 Proprietary landgrant of 500 acres to Col. John Barnwell. Later owners included membe...
- 07-47Gardens CornerGardens Corner was a junction of two significant roads long before the American Revolution. The King’s Highway (now U.S....
- 07-11Hilton HeadA prominent landmark for mariners since the voyages of the early Spanish explorers, this headland was known to the Engli...
- 07-53Intracoastal WaterwayArcheological evidence suggests human activity on Daufuskie Island as early as 12,000 B.C., with seasonal habitation tie...
- 07-56Parris IslandEuropean occupation of Parris Island dates to the French Charlesfort, 1562-1563. The Spanish built Santa Elena 1566-1587...
- 07-20Pinckney IslandInhabited for some 10,000 years, Pinckney Island was known as Espalanga, Look-out, and Mackey's prior to about 1775. Ale...
- 07-04Prince William's Parish Church/ Sheldon ChurchThese ruins are of Prince William’s Parish Church, built ca. 1751-57 and partially burned during the American Revolution...
- 07-22St. Helena's ChurchThis Episcopal Parish was established by Act of the Assembly June 7, 1712. The first known rector, William Guy, conducte...
- 07-17The MartinangelesPhillip Martinangele, born in Italy, immigrated to this country and settled in St. Helena's Parish. He married Mary Fost...
Era of American Revolution (1764-1783)
- 07-05Battle of Port Royal IslandBattle of Port Royal Island. Near the old halfway house in the vicinity of Grays Hill, on February 3, 1779, a force of S...
- 07-19Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825)Born in South Carolina, Pinckney was educated in England and served in the First and Second Provincial Congresses. A com...
- 07-13Revolutionary War AmbushIn December 1781, returning from a patrol with the Patriot militia, Charles Davant was mortally wounded from ambush near...
- 07-12Zion Chapel of Ease and CemeteryA chapel of St. Luke's Parish, established May 23, 1767, built of wood shortly after 1786 under the direction of Captain...
South Carolina in the Early Republic (1784-1815)
- 07-58Baptist Church of BeaufortThe Baptist Church of Beaufort descends from Euhaw Baptist Church on Edisto Island. In 1794 the first meeting house was ...
- 07-10Beaufort ArsenalErected in 1798 and rebuilt in 1852, the Beaufort Arsenal was the home of the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, commissioned...
- 07-03Chapel of EaseTo St. Helena's Church, Beaufort, S.C./Built about 1740/Made a separate Church/after the Revolution/Burned by Forest Fir...
Antebellum (1816-1860)
- 07-26Beaufort CollegeBeaufort College, a college preparatory academy founded in 1795, occupied this Greek Revival building from 1852 to 1861....
- 07-62Beaufort CollegeBeaufort College, a college preparatory academy founded in 1795, occupied this Greek Revival building from 1852 to 1861....
- 07-02BlufftonSettled in 1825 as a summer resort of rice and cotton planters, this town was incorporated in 1852. Here in 1844 was lau...
- 07-51BlufftonOriginally known as May River, and later as Kirk’s Bluff, Bluffton was settled as a resort town where planters could esc...
- 07-30Maxcy-Rhett HouseThis house was built circa 1810 for Milton Maxcy (1782-1817), who came here from Massachusetts in 1804. Maxcy and his br...
- 07-31Rose HillThis plantation was part of the barony of Lords Proprietor Sir John Colleton; his descendants sold this portion to Dr. J...
- 07-25St. Luke's ChurchThis sanctuary, built 1824 as St. Luke's Episcopal Church, housed an active Episcopal congregation until just before the...
- 07-45St. Peter Catholic ChurchThis Greek Revival church, built in 1846, dedicated as “St. Peter the Apostle Church,” is the oldest Catholic church in ...
- 07-49Wesley Methodist ChurchThis church, established in 1833, was the first Methodist church in Beaufort and was founded as a mission to slaves and ...
Civil War (1861-1865)
- 07-06"Robber's Row"After the occupation of Hilton Head in 1861, a civilian town grew up to serve the needs of the large Union base and its ...
- 07-28Battery SaxtonBattery Saxton, constructed here in 1862, was in the second line of earthworks built by Federal troops occupying Beaufor...
- 07-07Battle of Port RoyalA decisive battle in the Civil War took place here on Nov. 7, 1861, when 18 Union warships with about 55 supporting craf...
- 07-39Combahee River RaidOn June 1-2, 1863, a Federal force consisting of elements of the 2nd S.C. Volunteer Infantry (an African-American unit) ...
- 07-24Emancipation DayOn New Year's Day 1863 this plantation owned by John Joyner Smith was the scene of elaborate ceremonies celebrating the ...
- 07-40First African Baptist ChurchThis church, founded in 1865, grew out of an antebellum praise house for black members of the Baptist Church of Beaufort...
- 07-34Fort HowellThis Civil War fort, named for Gen. Joshua Blackwood Howell (1806-1864), was built by the U.S. Army to defend Hilton Hea...
- 07-72Fort HowellThis Civil War fort was built from August to November 1864 by the 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry and the 144th N.Y. Infantry...
- 07-54Fort MitchelFort Mitchel was built by the U.S. Army in 1862. It was an earthen fortification of lunette design, open at the rear wit...
- 07-08Fort ShermanCompleted in 1862, this large earth fort was designed to defend the great Union blockade base on Hilton Head against Con...
- 07-09Fort WalkerHastily built in 1861 to protect the S.C. coast against Union attack, Fort Walker, commanded by Col. William C. Heyward,...
- 07-23Mitchelville SiteIn 1862, after Hilton Head's fall to Union forces in 1861, this town, planned for the area's former slaves and named for...
- 07-15Penn SchoolAfter Union occupation of the sea islands in 1861, two northerners, Laura Towne and Ellen Murray, came to help the freed...
- 07-55Queen Chapel A.M.E. ChurchThe congregation of Queen Chapel can trace its roots to May 1865 when A.M.E. missionaries Rev. R.H. Cain, Rev. James H.A...
- 07-14Tabernacle Baptist ChurchTabernacle Church was formed by black members of Beaufort Baptist Church after other members evacuated the area due to F...
- 07-43The Burning of BlufftonBluffton, an antebellum planters’ summer village, was virtually abandoned by its seasonal and year-round inhabitants whe...
- 07-74Union Army EncampmentIn Jan. 1862, U.S. troops established an encampment on the south side of Boundary St. during their Civil War-era occupat...
Reconstruction (1866-1876)
- 07-70Beaufort Colored SchoolBeaufort Colored School opened at this site in 1867. The school was housed in a two-story frame residence acquired by th...
- 07-64Campbel Chapel A.M.E.Built in 1853, this was originally Bluffton Methodist Episcopal church. Organized by whites, the church’s 216 members in...
- 07-57Cyrus GarvinLittle is known of Cyrus Garvin’s early life. He was likely born into slavery, possibly on a plantation of the Baynard f...
- 07-73First Zion Baptist ChurchThis congregation organized around the time of the Civil War to serve formerly enslaved African Americans living in the ...
- 07-76Grace Chapel A.M.E. ChurchGrace Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church formally organized in 1869 and was initially called Beaufort A....
- 07-16Mather SchoolShortly after the Civil War, Mather School was founded here by Rachel Crane Mather of Boston. In 1882 the Woman's Americ...
New South (1877-1913)
- 07-21Beaufort Female Benevolent SocietyThe Society, founded in 1814 to educate and provide relief for destitute children, built this house in 1895 and leased i...
- 07-52Berean ChurchBerean Presbyterian Church was founded by Samuel J. Bampfield, an influential African American political figure during R...
- 07-44Beth Israel SynagogueBeth Israel (House of Israel) Congregation was founded and chartered in 1905. Beaufort’s Jewish community dates before t...
- 07-71Carteret Street Methodist ChurchMethodism in Beaufort Co. dates to the 1730s when denomination founder Rev. John Wesley visited the area. Methodist prea...
- 07-37First African Baptist ChurchThis church, organized in 1862, was first located in the town of Mitchelville, a freedmen's village established on Hilto...
- 07-38Fort FremontThese batteries, built by the U.S. Army in 1898 in response to the Spanish-American War, were part of Fort Fremont, whic...
- 07-41Grand Army of the Republic HallThis building was built ca. 1896 by the David Hunter Post No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). The G.A.R., founde...
- 07-68Great Fire of 1907This site was the starting point of the Great Fire of 1907, one of the worst disasters in the history of Beaufort. On Ja...
- 07-60Hilton Head Rear-Range LighthouseThe Rear Lighthouse of the Hilton Head Range Light Station was built in 1879-1880 by the U.S. Light House Board. Its lig...
- 07-59Lady's Island Oyster FactoryThe eastern oyster launched the Beaufort Co. commercial seafood industry. The first canning factory on this site, for wh...
- 07-50Port Royal Agricultural SchoolThe Port Royal Agricultural School, later the Beaufort County Training School, operated nearby 1901-1955. Offering vocat...
- 07-27Sheldon Union AcademySheldon Union Academy, later Sheldon School, opened in 1893 on this site and educated the black children of rural Sheldo...
- 07-33St. James Baptist ChurchThis church, founded in 1886 by former members of First African Baptist Church, is one of the oldest surviving instituti...
- 07-32The Great Sea Island StormOn the night of August 27, 1893, a huge “tropical cyclone,” the largest and most powerful storm to hit S.C. until Hurric...
World War I and the Interwar Period (1913-1941)
- 07-66Blue Channel CorporationIn 1939, the Blue Channel Corporation opened a crab canning factory on this site. Founded by inventor Sterling Harris, t...
- 07-67Carnegie LibraryBuilt in 1917-18, this was one of fourteen libraries constructed in S.C. with funding from the Carnegie Corporation. It ...
- 07-36First Presbyterian ChurchEarly attempts to establish a Presbyterian church in Beaufort, in the 1740s and 1880s, were unsuccessful. The first perm...
- 07-61Mary Field SchoolFollowing Emancipation, education was a priority for African American families on Daufuskie. Adults and children attende...
- 07-35William Simmons HouseThis house, built in 1930, is typical in materials and methods of construction of those built on the S.C. Sea Islands fr...
World War II and After (1941-present)
- 07-42Cherry Hill SchoolThis one-room frame school, built ca. 1937, was the first separate school building constructed for African-American stud...
- 07-29Michael C. Riley SchoolsThis is the site of two schools that served the black community of southern Beaufort County for most of the twentieth ce...
- 07-69Oyotunji VillageIn 1970, members of the N.Y. Yoruba Temple arrived in Beaufort Co. to found an “African Village” centered on traditional...
- 07-75Washington Street PlaygroundIn 1942 a group of local African American leaders known as the Beaufort County Negro Recreational Association acquired a...
- 07-65World War II POW CampIn Oct. 1943, the U.S. Army opened a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp near here on Pigeon Point Road. It was one of more than ...