Hardeeville among state's fastest growing municipalities

Hardeeville is one of the fastest growing areas in South Carolina, but city officials say a wave of recent annexations isn't the only driving force behind the boom.

The U.S. Census Bureau released figures last week that show the population in the Jasper County municipality increased nearly 44 percent between 2007 and 2008 -- from 1,924 to 2,763 people.

That dwarfed population growth in every incorporated area of Beaufort County during the same period. The town of Port Royal had the largest increase among county municipalities, growing almost 9 percent.

Hardeeville assistant city manager Jeff Slocum said annexations and an influx of new residents are only two of the factors that contributed to city growth.

"It's a little bit of both," Slocum said. "We have had a lot of annexation over the past few years, but our largest annexations have been undeveloped properties that are currently under development."

A third factor was Hardeeville's participation in the U.S. Census Bureau Local Update of Census Addresses program, in which city maps and addresses were manually checkedto ensure an accurate count, Slocum said.

"That was actually a very worthwhile endeavor," Slocum said of the program. "We were able to find a lot of addresses that were not previously counted."