The Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park will soon be home to a new monument honoring Beaufort's three centuries of history.
The city's long-planned tricentennial memorial will be made of 14 granite blocks with bronze plates, set between a circle of palmetto trees. A public unveiling will be at 2 p.m. Jan. 20.
The memorial is being paid for with proceeds from the Beaufort 300 campaign, during which more than 300 people, businesses and organizations donated at least $300 each. The fundraiser began as a way to salute the city's 300th birthday, Jan. 17, 2011.
Benefactors' names and notations about important parts of Beaufort's history will be included in the memorial. Local historian Larry Rowland wrote the historical information.
Beaufort 300 participants Kevin Cuppia and Jim Schroeder designed the monument, which was approved last year by City Council.
The unveiling of the memorial, which will be near the playground, will include music, an invocation by Bishop Alden Hathaway of the Parish Church of St. Helena and school children reading from the markers.
Explorations of the area by the Spanish date to 1514, and Beaufort was founded Jan. 17, 1711, by the English. It was named for Henry Somerset, duke of Beaufort. Important historical figures include Jean Ribaut, Robert Smalls, Laura Towne and Col. John "Tuscarora Jack" Barnwell.
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