This name of this town is pronounced like the beginning of beautiful (“Buuu-fort”), whereas the NC one is pronounced “Bo-fort”.
We anchored about ½ mile from town and spent most of the day there, May 15, walking about Beaufort. It is a very nice place with a lot of history and it has played important roles in both the revolutionary war and the civil war. They’ve done a nice job of preserving the historical architecture and seem genuinely proud of that heritage and the roles that Beaufort has played in American history. There are many large mansions going back to those time periods, one of which we were able to tour. Once they took the forts guarding the harbor, the Union army actually moved into this town and lived here so there wasn’t any burning of the old homes and buildings. The upper class, fearing imprisonment or worse, left town quickly when the forts fell so when the Union troops got to town they pretty much had the run of the place with lots of excited former slaves to help them in any way they could. There are 300-500 year old live oak tress draped in Spanish moss shading the many beautiful historic homes. Many movies have been filmed here including The Big Chill, Forest Gump, The Prince of Tides. It is the quintessential lovely southern waterfront town!
Most of the mansions were built by old south planters as summer homes. Yes, that seemed odd since South Carolina is not noted for cool summers anywhere, but apparently the weather here, especially with the breeze over the water, is much, much cooler in the summer than in the interior where their plantations and most of the agriculture were. The summer was also the big social season with frequent parties and each planter trying to outdo the others in the lavishness of his parties. Being a shipping port, there was also a well-to-do merchant class. Almost all of these homes are still lived in by private owners, though some have become inns or bed and breakfasts. There are strict rules in place and an historical commission must approve any and all changes to structures or grounds within the historical district, both inside and outside the buildings. This historic district appears to encompass everything from the waterfront inland a few blocks. We toured one house which was built by a wealthy merchant and it was very nice. It is smaller than many here, but would have been a nice place to live. The waterfront is also very pleasant with beautiful plantings and we enjoyed sitting on the benches in the early evening while our laundry was underway (last time in a laundromat…woohoo!!!!).
Historically what is now Beaufort has been important since the 1500s because it is the largest settlement near Port Royal which is a natural deep water port a few miles downriver. In the days when all goods that were shipped literally went on ships, natural deep water ports where critical to economic health as well as military strength. He who controlled the ports controlled the land. It really developed into an important port city during the Revolutionary war when it served as a staging port for American ships planning on running the British blockade of the East Coast. At times this area has been held by the Spanish, the French, the British, the Americans, the Confederacy, the Union, and finally the Americans again. Since deep water ports are much less strategic these days, hopefully it will stay part of America.
During the Civil War, it was obviously Confederate territory at the outset of hostilities. In fact, the first state to secede from the nation was SC and the documents were drafted here in Beaufort. The Union forces set their sights on this town pretty early on and sent a fleet to take the town and the surrounding area. The harbor was guarded by two forts, one on each side of the inlet and was considered a secure harbor and one not easily taken. However, the North came well prepared and had a brilliant strategy. Rather than dividing their fleet with part focused on each fort, they set up a rotating flotilla where the ships would fire on the first fort, continue past in a circular path headed for the other fort. This allowed them to reload out of range of either fort. After firing on the 2nd fort, they continued on toward the 1st again and were reloaded and ready to fire when they got there. The forts were taken relatively easily in just 4-1/2 hours and the town of Beaufort was abandoned along with all the Confederate forces, their families and most of the white population escaping inland and leaving this critical foothold in Union hands with very few losses on the North’s part. The town remained in Union hands for the rest of the war. During Reconstruction, Beaufort citizens with full support of the Union forces immediately began to educate and integrate the freed slaves, and from a modern perspective was a shining light on how to heal a nation and raise up an underclass in a positive and efficient way. Sadly it was short lived as the “old guard” reasserted its power via violence and control of the South Carolina Government.
We really enjoyed our visit to this nice town!