Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
dISCover<br />
beAufort<br />
county<br />
HISTORY<br />
The City of Beaufort is on one of the<br />
many islands and communities of<br />
Beaufort County. The county also includes<br />
the towns of Bluffton, Hilton Head, and<br />
Port Royal. The area’s indigenous people<br />
were American Indian tribes of the Cusabo<br />
group until waves of Europeans flocked to<br />
the area beginning with the Spanish in the<br />
1500’s. Thousands of enslaved Africans<br />
and African Americans were transported<br />
to the region to work indigo and cotton<br />
plantations, creating, but not sharing<br />
in the region’s wealth. Once freed from<br />
slavery early in the Civil War, blacks here<br />
were among the first to hear Lincoln’s<br />
Emancipation Proclamation.<br />
POINTS OF INTEREST<br />
City of Beaufort<br />
Robert Smalls Monument<br />
907 Craven Street<br />
Born a slave in Beaufort, Smalls cleverly<br />
captured a Confederate ship during the<br />
Civil War and sailed it past Charleston<br />
to the Union Navy, earning freedom for<br />
himself and his family. Smalls went on to<br />
become Captain of his own vessel and a<br />
state legislator.<br />
In 1868 he was elected to the U.S.<br />
House of Representatives. The man and<br />
his accomplishments are celebrated by<br />
a monument on the Tabernacle Baptist<br />
Church grounds. (From Americans of<br />
African <strong>Heritage</strong>, Pepper Bird Publications).<br />
Beaufort Arsenal<br />
713 Craven Street<br />
The Arsenal was completed in 1798.<br />
It garrisoned an African American militia<br />
unit that included the heroic Captain Robert<br />
Smalls. After emancipation, it was the site<br />
of the first polling booths for newly freed<br />
African American slaves.<br />
First African Baptist Church<br />
601 New Street<br />
This historical church was originally a prayer<br />
house and organized as a church in 1865. It<br />
is located in Beaufort’s historic district.<br />
Beaufort National Cemetery<br />
1601 Boundary Street (843.524.3925)<br />
The cemetery was established in 1863 by<br />
Abraham Lincoln as the final resting place<br />
for soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil<br />
War. The cemetery has remained open and<br />
veterans continue to be buried here.<br />
BCBCC · Discover Beaufort County 7
Change language