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Photo: TheDigitel Beaufort from Beaufort, SC, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Beaufort area came under the control of the Union Army in November 1861. As a result, it was one of the first places in the United States where emancipated slaves voted, bought property and created churches, schools and businesses.
The Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, formerly Reconstruction Era National Monument, is a United States National Historical Park in Beaufort County, South Carolina established by President Barack Obama in January 2017 to preserve and commemorate activities during the Reconstruction Era that followed the American Civil War. The monument was the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the Reconstruction Era. The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed March 12, 2019, by President Donald Trump, re-designated it as a national historical park. It is administered by the National Park Service.
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In a 1700s arsenal building.
Lafayette Building
Swamp featuring boardwalk with alligator and egret viewing.
Beach and boardwalk with observation tower along Port Royal Bay.
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.
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.