Beaufort County, SC Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

The Beaufort County Community Development Code creates the county's cultural-monument protections through its Historic Preservation Division. Under Community Development Code § 5.10.30, the HPRB "shall maintain a local inventory of buildings, structures, objects, cemeteries and sites that meet the historic survey eligibility standards of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) guidelines," and those records must stay available to the public. Protection reaches beyond individual buildings to "tabby structure or remnant," the county's term for the oyster-shell lime concrete distinctive to Lowcountry plantation and fort ruins, protected under § 5.10.70's Prohibited Acts clause against excavating, removing, damaging or defacing any archaeological or historic resource without a Director-issued permit.

Before a Building Permit can touch a listed resource, § 5.10.50 requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for any exterior alteration, addition or demolition, and any Development Permit for a parcel carrying a designated resource needs the same review; a permit issued without one is void by the code's own terms. The HPRB may also screen National Register nominations under § 5.10.40 before forwarding a recommendation to the state board of review, though only that state board can nominate a property. For sites with archaeological potential identified in the county's 1992 "Cartographic Survey of Historic Sites in Beaufort County, South Carolina," § 5.10.100 requires a Director determination and, if warranted, a professional survey before a development permit issues. Routine maintenance and repair that does not change design, material, color or outer appearance stays exempt under § 5.10.60, and the HPRB may authorize staff to approve minor repair projects administratively.