Beaufort is a city of traditional gracious beauty and character. Striking pre-Revolutionary and Civil War mansions are found in the city and placid and productive marshes teeming with life and broad rivers roll down to the great sounds. It is a city of antiquity and pride, where family roots and accomplishments count a great deal more than material aspects of life.

One of the first areas in America to be visited by European explorers, it has known Spanish conquistadors, French Huguenot colonists, English privateers and pirates, Scottish fur traders, Indian wars and bloody fighting during the Revolutionary War. It was the center of culture and affluence prior to the Civil War when great fortunes were made first in the cultivation of rice and indigo and later in long staple sea cotton.

The South Carolina historian McCraddy wrote that the plantation owners in this area, who had summer homes in Beaufort, made that city, "one of the wealthiest, most aristocratic and cultivated towns of its size in America."

It was also a hotbed of secessionist sentiment and the original Ordinance of Secession was drawn up in Beaufort. South Carolina led the withdrawal of the southern states from the rest of America and as a result, Beaufort was made an early objective for recapture by the U.S. government.

The Federal forces launched an attack from the sea in November 1861 and brushed aside the weak and incomplete Confederate defenses. Beaufort was occupied for the next several years and many homes were sold for as little as $15 in back taxes. For years the economic desolation resulting from the war left the county without any viable industry. Later, Phosphate mining and a U.S. Naval base were the only sources of revenue.

After World War II in particular, it was discovered that this area was one of the last undeveloped and unpolluted areas on the East Coast.

A residential boom began at locations around Beaufort, which attracted industry to the area, and the county population grew accordingly.

Beaufort County offers the visitor or new resident miles of beautiful beaches, unsurpassed sports opportunities and a quiet easy pace of living that is seldom found in other parts of America.

There are many apartments, condominiums and single family homes in Beaufort County. A list of these is available from the local Chamber of Commerce. Visit www.beaufortsc.org.

There are numerous shopping centers, banks and savings and loans in the area. The local paper is The Beaufort Gazette. Also available are The Island Packet; The State; Charleston Post and Courier; Bluffton Today; USA Today, The Gullah Sentinel and News Piedmont.