Beaufort Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in Sou ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1969, and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1973. The historic district is renowned for its impressive collection of

antebellum architecture Antebellum architecture (meaning "prewar", from the Latin '' ante'', "before", and '' bellum'', "war") is the neoclassical architectural style characteristic of the 19th-century Southern United States, especially the Deep South, from after the b ...

that reflect the Federal, neoclassical, and

Greek revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

styles that were popular during the interwar period, along with the widespread use of

tabby A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...

. A variety of homes, gardens, commercial buildings, houses of worship and graveyards are featured in the district, with some sites open for public inspection. Continuous efforts at rehabilitation and conservation underline the community's commitment to maintaining the historic nature of the district, which has attracted much acclaim and garnered popularity from visitors and media outlets. The district's condition has been assessed several times since it was listed in 1969, and in 1998 the National Park Service proposed listing the district as "threatened" due to an ongoing gradual loss of historic integrity. Partly in reaction to this, the district's significance was broadened to include a distinctive historical element of post-Civil War history. The

Port Royal Experiment The Port Royal Experiment was a program begun during the American Civil War in which former slaves successfully worked on the land abandoned by planters. In 1861 the Union captured the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and their main h ...

, centered in Beaufort, involved a large-scale redistribution of land from large landowners to former African-American slaves in an effort to assimilate the freed slaves into a modern post-war society. This Reconstruction-era effort had a marked impact on Beaufort's built environment, and is still evident in the surviving buildings.

Neighborhoods

The district can be further divided into five unique and distinct neighborhoods. For some purposes, the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood is not considered to be in the historic district, however it is often grouped in together with the other neighborhoods. Downtown is centered along Bay Street, Beaufort's historic commercial street. It includes other nearby streets and is mainly commercial in character. Located between the Beaufort River and Bay Street is the newly renovated ''Henry Chambers Waterfront Park'', which overlooks the Beaufort River and is home to many of the city's festivals and events. Most non-tourist commercial services have since relocated to other areas in the city, leaving mostly restaurants and shops that showcase various art, handicrafts, and antiques. Craven Street Beaufort

The Point neighborhood (also known as the Old Point) is home to some of Beaufort's largest, oldest, and most expensive homes. Defined as the land between Carteret Street and the Beaufort River, this portion of downtown does not follow the major street grid and was once an area where a timber mill operated. Homes in this area range from the impressive mansions that overlook the Beaufort river to Victorian and Queen Anne style homes along Craven Street. Streetscapes are typically dominated by an impressive

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

canopy, often accompanied by Spanish moss. The

Rhett House Inn The Rhett House Inn, is a historic Inn at 1009 Craven Street, Beaufort, South Carolina. It is significant as the home of Thomas Moore Rhett and his wife, Caroline Barnwell, who were early pioneers in South Carolina in the 1800s. The Inn is in the ...

is at 1009 Craven Street. The Bluff area is located along Bay Street and North Street, immediately west of downtown. The large homes in the area are some of the most recognizable in the city, and have a scenic overlook of the Beaufort River. The art deco U.S. District Courthouse is located at the western end of the Bluff. The Old Commons neighborhood (also known as the ''Northeast Quadrant'') is located in the northeastern portion of Beaufort's original street grid, and is defined as the area among Carteret Street on the east, North Street on the south, Charles Street on the west, and Boundary Street to the north. Originally home to a hodgepodge of medium-sized homes, graveyards, and chapels, this section of downtown is undergoing reinvestment and redevelopment, yet retains a southern style of architecture. Nearly all homes in this neighborhood employ front or side porches. The Northwest Quadrant neighborhood is loosely defined as the area between Charles Street on the east, Prince Street to the south, Ribaut Road on the west, and Boundary Street to the north. This area has for generations been the center of Beaufort's African-American community and is composed of late 19th and early 20th century homes, many in a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...

architectural style. Bladen Street serves as the principal street through the community, and was recently renovated with improved landscaping and pedestrian access. There have been increased efforts at rehabilitation of several properties in the Quadrant, though significant financial and social obstacles often hinder these efforts.

Historic sites

Several sites individually listed on the National Register are in Beaufort and may be contributing properties in this district. These include: * The Anchorage * William Barnwell House * Barnwell-Gough House * John A. Cuthbert House *

Marshlands A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

(NHL) * Robert Smalls House (NHL) *

Tabby Manse Tabby Manse, also known as Thomas Fuller House, is a building in Beaufort, South Carolina. Significance The house is one of the few remaining early buildings on the South Carolina coast whose exterior walls are built of tabby, a material co ...

John Mark Verdier House John Mark Verdier House, also known as Lafayette Building, is a building in Beaufort, South Carolina. It was built by John Mark Verdier, a French Huguenot, in 1804. The house typified Beaufort's gracious antebellum architectural style. It was ...

* The Cobbler's Cottage The William Johnson House and the

Parish Church of St. Helena The Parish Church of St. Helena is a historic Anglican church in Beaufort, South Carolina. Founded in 1712, it is among the oldest churches in the United States. Its building—erected in 1724 but expanded and substantially modified in the 19th ...

are contributing properties.

Gallery

File:The Anchorage.jpg, The Anchorage File:Elizabeth Barnwell Gough House, 705 Washington Street (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg, Barnwell-Gough House File:John Cuthbert House (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg, John A. Cuthbert House File:James Robert Verdier House - Marshlands (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg,

File:Robert Smalls House (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg, Robert Smalls House File:Tabby Manse - Thomas Fuller House (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg,

File:John Mark Verdier House - 810 Bay St. (Beaufort, South Carolina).jpg,

File:710 Prince Street.jpg, 710 Prince Street File:Barnwell House, 705 Prince Street.jpg, Barnwell House, 705 Prince Street File:George Parsons Elliott House.jpg, George Parsons Elliott House File:The Cobbler's Cottage.jpg, The Cobbler's Cottage

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Geography of Beaufort County, South Carolina Buildings and structures in Beaufort, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Beaufort County, South Carolina

Neighborhoods

Historic sites

Gallery

See also

References