Sea Islands & Gullah Geechee Heritage
Beaufort’s islands preserve a distinctive African American cultural and documentary record.
Beaufort County’s sea islands—including St. Helena, Port Royal, and neighboring communities—are central to Gullah Geechee history. The Civil War–era Port Royal Experiment, missionary schools, and later landholding patterns created unusually rich sources: Freedmen’s Bureau records, school rolls, church minutes, and early photographs.