Beaufort

Beaufort, city, seat of Beaufort county, southern South Carolina, U.S. It is situated on Port Royal, one of the Sea Islands, and on the Intracoastal Waterway. Its harbour was first visited by Spaniards in 1521. Early settlement attempts in the area were made by French Huguenots (1562), the English (1670), and Scottish Covenanters (1684). A fort was built by the British in 1711, and the town, also founded that year, was named for Henry Somerset,...