We all know what our downtown waterfront looks like, don’t we?

Today

1963

1909

Things sure have changed!

Photos from the Topgun Studios Collection

The “Castle” as we know it today was built in 1861 by Dr. Joseph Fickling Johnson as a summer home for his family. The home was unfinished but occupied at the outbreak of the War Between The States, and was abandoned during the Battle of Port Royal in December of 1861. Johnson, like most Beaufortonians, fled the area and took his family to safety inland for the duration of the war. Unable to take all of their belongings with them, Johnson buried the family’s formal dinner service under the floorboards of the cookhouse behind the Castle. As with most citizens of the Confederacy, Johnson expected a quick and decisive Southern victory and anticipated returning to his home after a very short absence.

As with many of the homes in Beaufort, the Castle became a military hospital for Union soldiers and sailors during the four year Union occupation of the area. The cookhouse behind the Castle served as a morgue for the makeshift hospital, and as such, was not tampered with to any great extent.

The fine Italian Marble mantles and other expensive interior trim pieces were stolen from the house by occupying troops and shipped to homes in the north during the war. The original pieces were never recovered and were subsequently replaced several years after the war ended.

At the end of the war, local landowners were subjected to wartime taxes on their properties levied by the U.S. government. Unpaid back taxes were payable immediately, and those who could not pay lost their homes and properties through “Direct Tax Sales”. Most of the homes in Beaufort were lost to their pre-war owners who had been left impoverished by the long and expensive war. Dr. Johnson was one of the few who was able to redeem his home. Upon his return to Beaufort at the end of the war, he dug up the undisturbed dinner service from beneath the former morgue, and sold it to pay the taxes.

The largest home in Beaufort, the Castle boasts an impressive 11000 square feet of floor space. It has the greatest number of windows of any home in town, with a total of 77. Said to be the most photographed home in America, the Castle has long been a favorite subject of local and visiting photographers and artists.

Photos from the Topgun Studios Collection

The various islands that comprise Beaufort haven’t always been so easy to get to. Prior to 1927, the only means of travel between the islands was by boat or ferry. In July of 1927, Port Royal Island, the home of Beaufort proper, was connected to Ladys Island by land travel for the first time with the opening of the Beaufort- St. Helena Bridge. A narrow rotating swing structure only slightly wider than one lane, the Beaufort-St. Helena Bridge served as a gateway to the outer islands until 1959. To serve the introduction of wider vehicles and greater traffic needs between our islands, a larger full two lane swing bridge was built slightly to the east of the original swing bridge. The new bridge was renamed in 1971 and dedicated to the memory of Richard V. Woods, a slain South Carolina State Trooper, and all law enforcement officers.

One of only a small handful of operational swing bridges in America the Richard V. Woods Bridge is a National Landmark and still serves Beaufort proudly 61 years later.

Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge Monument

Beaufort-Ladys Island/St. Helena Ferry at Whitehall circa 1918

The new Beaufort-St. Helena Bridge on opening day in July 1927. Note the radical mid-river turn.

Woods Bridge Under Construction, Check Those Gas Prices!

The Woods Bridge shortly after completion in 1959.

Note the mid-river pilings and roadway from the 1927 bridge still remain in place west of the new bridge.

Our cherished but sometimes frustrating bridge as it looks today.

Photos from the Topgun Studios Collection…1958 Construction Photo submitted by Port Royal PD Chief Jim Cadien

Updated, Feb. 5, 2010