Bateaux

Built as the Customs House for the Village of Port Royal in 1838, these walls gave refuge to weary travelers escaping the hardships of sea. For 52 years this building remained unaffected amidst the changing tides of Port Royal Sound.  With Union forces amassing and Confederate troops countering but failing, by the summer of 1861the social order of Beaufort and Port Royal was forever changed.

In 1890 the building was sold to The Palmetto Post, one of the area’s oldest newspapers.  No doubt these walls have heard it all…  stories of northerners making their way to Beaufort to hunt and fish the abundant game.  Or perhaps news of the United States Marine Corps recruit training at Parris Island in 1915.; Ironically, the only story never printed was the one that destroyed the newspaper – the fire of the early 1920’s.  Only the walls remained.