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Photo: United States Marine Corps, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
It is a military base located about 5 mi south of Beaufort. It is famous for being the place where most Marines are trained. Recruits graduate every Friday, with a Marine Day (a day to learn about the Marine Corps) on Wednesday and Family Day (a day for the families of the recruits to spend time with their recruits) on Thursday. Families are invited to each day, but keep in mind that it is a military base. Families of recruits will need their invitation, a valid driver's license, vehicle registration, and a proof of insurance to be able to enter. Families must also sign in at the Visitor's Center prior to the ceremony. In addition, there is a museum and a golf course, both of which civilians can come to invitation or not.
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is an 8,095-acre (3,276 ha) military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. MCRD Parris Island is used for United States Marine Corps Recruit Training of enlisted United States Marines. Recruits living east of the Mississippi River report there to receive initial training. Recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, but may train at MCRD Parris Island by special request. Parris Island is only open to civilians for the Museum, and prior criminal history such as felonies and drug charges will prevent visitors from entering the island.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Beach and boardwalk with observation tower along Port Royal Bay.
Swamp featuring boardwalk with alligator and egret viewing.
The fort and battery is historically significant as an example of late 19th- and early 20th-century military architecture and as one of two surviving coastal fortifications in the United States intact from the Spanish–American War era. Today the fort is a Historical Preserve. Only the 10-inch battery, the rapid-fire battery, and the brick hospital built in 1906 survive. All the other structures were made of wood and were demolished at various points before 1989.
Lafayette Building
In a 1700s arsenal building.