How the Bootleggers Saved Beaufort
Whiskey saved more houses than the banks.
A walk through Beaufort’s historic Old Point is as restorative as watching a sunset over the Beaufort River in all its golden splendor. Last week, as I was strolling down its winding streets, I thought about how this cozy town was not always so serene. Walking past the Berners Barnwell Sams’ house, I notice the original slave quarters, now converted into apartments. There’s a blacksmith shop, a cookhouse, and a laundry, but I remember it as the hospital it became during the Northern occupation. As I look up, I can imagine a wounded Civil War soldier being carried inside.
Without a doubt, the most famous house in this part of town is Tidalholm, the setting for movies like The Big Chill and The Great Santini, based on Pat Conroy’s books.
How did it all survive once slavery ended? Wealth vanished, taxes went unpaid, and these homes were left to wither and rot from termites and time.
