The City of Beaufort, South Carolina was founded in 1711, it’s South Carolina’s second oldest city. Named “America’s Happiest Seaside Town” by Coastal Living Magazine, Beaufort is known for its rich cultural heritage, beautiful sites and architecture, 304-acre National Historic Landmark District, and warm hospitality.
Beaufort is located on Port Royal Island, one of the largest Sea Islands along the southeast Atlantic coast of the United States. It is one of only a handful of U.S. towns that has had its entire downtown designated an historic district by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The beautiful location that makes Beaufort a sought-after city for both residential living and vacationing also makes it particularly vulnerable to the threat of sea level rise.
In December of 2014, concerned citizens, small businesses, elected officials, and municipal staff in Beaufort formed a Sea Level Rise Task Force to address the area’s vulnerability to sea level rise and develop adaptation strategies to address potential impacts. In addition, the city has made addressing sea level rise a top priority of its 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, by creating a long-range plan, identifying available revenue streams to address the City’s infrastructure, and developing engineering and construction plans to address stormwater, flooding, and rising sea level issues that will affect the City.
