Wedding & Event Venue Near Beaufort, SC.

Beaufort County’s Capital Projects Department will begin work on repairs to the pedestrian bridge and the addition of a new fishing pier on the Spanish Moss Trail on Battery Creek near the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

Construction will begin Wednesday, May 1 and is expected to finish Sunday, June 30. The timeline is an estimate dependent on weather and supplies. The work will be done by O’Quinn Marine Construction from Beaufort.

The bridge and new fishing pier are located on the Spanish Moss Trail between the street crossings at Hermitage Road and Cottage Farm Drive (map).

The entire section of the Spanish Moss Trail between Cottage Farm Road and Hermitage Road will be closed for the duration of the project.

Construction traffic and staging of materials will block and interfere with the use of the bridge and the trail. Citizens should stay off this section of the trail for their safety and the safety of the contractor.

Visit the Spanish Moss Trail website for closures.

For questions or more information, please contact Beaufort County Capital Improvements Projects at 843-255-2707.

It’s spring in the Lowcountry. It’s starting to get warmer and that means our large local alligator population is on the move all over the area, looking for love. In fact, gators are being seen by folks all over Beaufort right now.

This time of year brings warmer weather and our gators become more active in their mating season with courtships and mating getting underway in April, May and June.

Alligators become more active and visible when temperatures rise and their metabolism increases. This time of year, Lowcountry gators are more active, males looking for females, displaying, showing themselves to other alligators…and often to us humans.

As we’re out enjoying the warmer weather, so are they. And, folks are even finding them in the streets, their driveways, and sometimes even on their front porches.

On local golf courses, beaches, in the marshes, practically anywhere and everywhere there is water…gators and locals cross paths quite often.

Because alligators control their body temperature by basking in the sun, they may be easily observed. However, you need to keep your distance if you see one. And, never feed alligators because it is both dangerous AND illegal.

In fact, help us let visiting tourists know this and that feeding them is illegal in our state. Alligators fed by humans will eventually lose their natural fear of us and this could bring on some serious problems.

Alligators usually are not aggressive toward humans, but they are very dangerous. Unprovoked attacks by alligators smaller than 5 feet are rare, but unusual behavior does occur. Single bites usually are made by alligators that are less than 8 feet long. Most bites occur in Florida, but attacks also have been documented in South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama.

Beaufort has had its share, too.

There are lots of gators in Beaufort. South Carolina is estimated to house approximately 100,000 alligators, and most of them call the Lowcountry home.

According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources website, alligators are federally classified as “threatened due to similarity of appearance” to other endangered crocodilians. The classification provides federal protection for alligators but allows state-approved programs for management and control.

After mating season, a female lays a single clutch of 30 to 50 eggs in a mound of vegetation during early June to mid-July. In late August or early September, 9- to 10-inch hatchlings are liberated from the nest by the female. The female may defend and stay with her hatchlings for up to a year, gradually removing herself as caregiver as the next breeding season approaches.

When Beaufort and the sea islands start to heat up, Lowcountry gators are on the move….

READ: Fines for feeding gators increased in South Carolina

Nearly 100 books were temporarily pulled from school library shelves in South Carolina's Beaufort County; most of the books were eventually returned after a review.

The ban campaign kicked off when two county residents, one of them a parent and former member of Moms for Liberty — a conservative nonprofit that advocates for "parental rights" — filed complaints. They presented a list of 97 books they alleged didn't belong on school bookshelves.

Where did the 97 books on the list come from?

The list of books originated from a site called BookLooks, founded two years ago by a Florida nurse who is a former member of Moms for Liberty. She said volunteers rate books on the site from 0-5 using BookLooks' standards, including for "explicit sexual nudity" and "gender ideologies." Each rating includes a count of how many times words that it judges to be obscene are used.

A Beaufort County parent discovered that 96 books with ratings of 3 or higher from the BookLooks list were available in county public schools and wrote the school system to complain in October 2022. Another resident added a 97th book to the list. A small number of other parents and residents spoke publicly in favor of the proposed book bans.

The school board's procedure called for the challenged books to be left on the shelves while they were reviewed. However, the district superintendent feared violence after getting the list, because a few people were threatening to have librarians and other educators arrested. Within days, he had the books temporarily pulled from school library shelves while they were reviewed.

How did Beaufort County decide which books to ban and which to return?

The county began efforts to review the books by asking Beaufort residents to read all the books on the list. Over the course of a year, 146 parents and community members — along with teachers, librarians and educators — discussed, deliberated and voted.

The final book panels met in late November and their decisions were approved during a school board meeting in December. Most of the 97 books were cleared, with some only returned to high school libraries. The review team discovered one of the 97 books on the list had never been on school library shelves to begin with.

Full list of the five banned books and the 92 that were returned

Editor's note: 97 Books Producer Henry Schuster is a resident of Beaufort County, South Carolina. He participated on one of the book review committees before beginning to produce the report for 60 Minutes.

Scott Pelley

Scott Pelley, one of the most experienced and awarded journalists today, has been reporting stories for "60 Minutes" since 2004. The 2023-24 season is his 20th on the broadcast. Scott has won half of all major awards earned by "60 Minutes" during his tenure at the venerable CBS newsmagazine.

Most of the whole country is talking about the total solar eclipse that is coming on Monday, April 8th. But, what will we see in Beaufort?

Well, here in South Carolina, the astronomical event will be far less dramatic compared to the total solar eclipse we experienced, in totality, in 2017. This year, the path of totality is Texas and points Northeast through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

In the Upstate, folks will be a bit luckier then they will be here in Beaufort. The eclipse in the Upstate will block out 85% of the sun at its maximum at about 3:05pm on Monday.

In South Carolina, the moon will block anywhere from 74.6% of the sun to 85.3% at its peak, according to data from Eclipse2024.org.

The mountain areas of the Palmetto State will see the greatest eclipse while coastal areas, including Beaufort, will see the least in South Carolina.

Beaufort County will enjoy a fairly advanced partial eclipse, with about 75% of the sun being blocked by the moon at approximately 3:08pm on Monday.

The partial eclipse is expected to begin around 1:52 PM and conclude around 4:25 PM. This time frame coincides with school dismissal for students. Parents and guardians are urged to remind their children that looking directly at the sun is always hazardous and can cause permanent damage to their eyesight.

Viewing the eclipse without proper eye safety can cause loss of vision, especially in children whose still-developing eyes may be particularly at risk. Symptoms of eye damage can include blurry vision, distorted vision or ‘blind spots.’ The resulting damage could be temporary or permanent.

Experts warn to not make the mistake of thinking a partial eclipse is less dangerous – if anything, it’s more dangerous because the sun is never fully blocked. That goes for the solar eclipse in Beaufort. Take steps now to ensure you can have a fun but also safe viewing experience.

Here are a few tips to keep you and your children’s eyes protected while enjoying the eclipse:

• Use eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers, not regular sunglasses

• Indirect viewing methods

• Don’t recycle solar safety glasses

The U.S. won’t see another coast-to-coast solar eclipse until 2045 so, by all means, get out with your older children to enjoy this rare event, just prepare ahead of time to ensure everyone stays safe.

Enjoy the solar eclipse, Beaufort.

Hey y’all. Beaufort did it again. Beautiful Beaufort, SC was just named the #1 Best Small Town in S.C. by Southern Living magazine in its recently published article, “The Best Small Town in Every Southern State 2024.”

“The Palmetto State has a number of wonderful small towns, but Beaufort is regularly voted the best. That’s because of the abundance of moss-draped oaks, historic homes, proximity to quiet beaches, and winding nature trails found at Hunting Island State Park. Bay Street’s stretch of restaurants, cafes, and boutiques doesn’t hurt its charm, either. ”

Enter, Beaufort, South Carolina.

Southern Living seems to nail it with that description.

It’s good to be consistently included among the best, but this isn’t really that much of a surprise if you’ve ever visited Beaufort, SC.

Beaufort is in some good company on the list, too. There are lots of other small towns in the South that are worth visiting, just like Beaufort, SC.

Some of the other winners are:

Gatlinburg, Tennessee Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia Fredericksburg, Texas Blowing Rock, North Carolina Ocean Springs, Mississippi

For the entire list, visit here.

The accolades really have been pouring in for Beaufort recently, and we couldn’t be more proud.

Recently, CNN named Beaufort one of the Best Small Towns in America.

Trips To Discover recently named Beaufort the Best Summer Vacation Destination in South Carolina, one of the Most Friendliest Towns in the U.S. and one of the 20 Most Beautiful Small Towns in the U.S.

We’ve also recently been named one of the 25 Best Small Towns in America by Architectural Digest; the Most Charming Small Town in South Carolina; one of the Cutest Towns in the U.S. and the Most Quaint Town in South Carolina.

In addition to those, Southern Living magazine named the Old Sheldon Church ruins one of the South’s Most Beautiful Chapels; named Hunting Island State Park one of the Best State Parks in the South; and named downtown Beaufort’s Craven Street one of the South’s Most Beautiful Streets.

To see more of Beaufort, the Best Small Town in S.C., check out this link, too.