destinations
History you can touch
©PHOTO BY JESSIE BAKER
Reconstruction Era National Monument, 712 Craven Street The National Park established in 2017 highlights local efforts to integrate millions of formerly enslaved African-Americans into society during and after the Civil War. The monument really is a string of locations throughout the area in which that work was done. The Arsenal, 713 Craven Street The Arsenal was built in 1798 to house the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and its weapons after the Revolutionary War. It now houses the Beaufort History Museum and the Beaufort Visitors Center.
Places unlike any other National Cemetery Beaufort, 1601 Boundary Street Initially for Union soldiers who died at nearby hospitals, the cemetery later included Confederate soldiers and black Union soldiers. Military burials continue there.
Santa Elena Historial Center, 1501 Bay Street The museum gives the back story on one of the earliest European settlements in America just a few miles away at Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot. It was there that Spain set up the capital of La Florida in 1566, an area that extended to today’s St. Augustine, Fla.
Richard V. Woods Memorial Swing Bridge Named after a state trooper, the 1959 swing bridge is one of the few of its kind still in operation. The Point The neighborhood is really why Beaufort is so darned memorable. Street after street there are enormous live oaks beside breathtaking homes that illustrate the best architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries. See it on foot, bike, carriage or car. Just see it.
John Mark Verdier House, 801 Bay Street The Federal-style mansion was built around 1804 by John Mark Verdier. He built his wealth by trading indigo and growing 1,000 acres of Sea Island cotton. The wellappointed house served as Union headquarters during the Civil War.
Shh!
Don’t tell them who told you There are quiet, our-of-the-way places to call your own all over town. Here are three. 144
LocalLifeSC.com + MAY 2020
Explore the tiny park at the Pigeon Point boat landing. There’s a swing and observation deck that are perfect for a mini mental vacation.
Wander through the graveyard at the Parish Church of St. Helena at 505 Church St. Some headstones date back to the 1700s.