Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Community
Beaufort, South Carolina
Welcome
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.
Area Housing
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.
Utilities
Telephone
No set policy. If your record from your previous area is good, no deposit is required. If deposit is required, the minimum is $100. Minimum service connection charge is $32.30 plus one month’s local service charge. For more information, call 522-9404.
Electric and Gas
$150 plus two IDs.
South Carolina Electric and
Gas Co……………………….. 525-7700
Route 2, Highway 170
P.O. Box 1168
Beaufort, SC 29901
Beaufort–Jasper Water & Sewer Authority
To establish service for areas served by BJWSA in Beaufort and Jasper Counties contact:
Beaufort……………………….. 987-9200
Bluffton………………………… 707-0017
Cable TV
Charter Communications. (800) 955-7766
60 Robert Smalls Parkway
Beaufort, SC 29906
COMCAST Cable……………….. 522-1341
Beaufort, SC 29904
Hargray Cable…………………. 379-9000
130 Robert Smalls Parkway
Beaufort, SC 29906
Schools
Public
The Beaufort County School District operates 16 elementary schools, seven middle schools, three senior high schools, one early college and one school for exceptional children. Each of three regional clusters—Battery Creek, Beaufort and Hilton Head—has its own elementary, middle and high schools. A total of more than 17,500 students are enrolled annually. For specific information, contact:
Superintendent of Schools……. 322-2300
Board of Education Building
1300 King St.
P.O. Box 309
Beaufort, SC 29901
The Beaufort Academy is an independent school with a present enrollment of approximately 375 students in grades K3 through 12.
Private
There are six private schools available.
Contact the headmaster of each for specific information.
School Administration
Registration for all returning students at Laurel Bay begins mid-July. Laurel Bay Primary School serves pre-kindergarten through second grade, and Laurel Bay Intermediate School serves grades three through six. Registration for all new students will be held during the first week of August. Parents must have a birth certificate, South Carolina immunization record and social security card to register a new student. The South Carolina immunization record can be obtained from the Naval Hospital Beaufort and kindergarten students must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1. A half-day preschool program for all 4-year-olds is offered at Laurel Bay. Call 522-7002.
Colleges/Universities
University of South Carolina….. 521-4100
Beaufort Regional Campus
800 Carteret St.
Beaufort, SC
Technical College of the
Lowcountry…………………… 525-8330
100 Ribaut Road
Beaufort, SC 29902
Webster University……………. 524-1851
P.O. Box 6115
Beaufort, SC 29902
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University Worldwide……….. 228-7585
Park University………………… 522-9123
P.O. Box 9065
Marine Corps Air Station
Beaufort, SC 29904
Limestone College Block
Program………………. (800) 795-7151
Beaufort-Jasper Career Education Center
1115 College Drive
Gaffney, SC 29340
Adult Education
Contact the Beaufort County Adult Education Department at 322-0780.
Shopping Centers/
Newspapers and Magazines
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.
Transportation
Beaufort is mainly dependent upon the automobile. Major highways within the region include Interstate 95 and U.S. Highways 17, 21, 170 and 278. I-95, the main north-south corridor on the East Coast, extends from Maine to Miami, Fla., carrying an average of more than 16,000 vehicles per day through lower South Carolina, and connects with all other eastern interstates. Easy access is provided at Exit 33 to other major highways: U.S. Highway 17, the coastal route to the ports of Charleston and Savannah, U.S. Highway 278 to the towns of Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, and U.S. Highway 170 and 21 to the city of Beaufort and town of Port Royal. A number of significant improvement projects for the Beaufort regional highway system have begun and other improvement projects are proposed for the Beaufort County Transportation Program. Other types of transportation compliment the roadways.
Buses
The Lowcountry Regional Transportation Authority provides public bus transportation for the general public. For bus route schedules and fares, which varies with type of transportation, call the executive director at (888) 757-5782. The Greyhound Bus Lines serve the low country area with tickets for distant traveling; 1307 Boundary St., 524-4646.
Taxi Service
Independent cab companies operate taxis in Beaufort County. Beaufort County taxi fares are regulated by the City Council.
Rail
Trains leaving out of Yemassee, S.C., (approximately 25 miles north) are the only passenger trains running through the Lowcountry. For prices and schedules call Amtrak at (800) 835-8725.
Air Service
Beaufort County has two county-owned airports, one on Lady’s Island and the other on Hilton Head Island. Federal funding, coupled with local county and state expenditures, has resulted in many recent improvements to both airports. The Beaufort County Airport (Frogmore International) is located on U.S. Highway 21, four miles from downtown Beaufort. This airport has a 3,430-foot runway, radio-controlled runway lights, and a dawn to dusk terminal, including fuel availability and limited services and increased civil aviation capacity. The runway was extended to 5,000 feet, allowing up to 50 passenger planes, an increase from the current limit of 30-passenger planes.
Airline service is available at Savannah Airport (55 miles south of Beaufort on Georgia 307) and Charleston Airport (75 miles north of Beaufort on Interstate 526) with regularly scheduled airline service, as well as air freight.