‘Exceptional American’: Post office would be named for this historic Beaufort figure
A bill to name a post office branch in Beaufort Plaza Shopping Center after Lowcountry legend Robert Smalls, who became a congressman and Civil War hero after being born a slave, has passed out of a House committee, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace said Thursday.
The honor, if approved, would add to a long list of memorials to Smalls, who returned to Beaufort after the war to buy his former master’s house.
Mace’s legislation would change the name of the post office at the Beaufort Plaza where the new Publix grocery is under construction. It passed the House Committee on Wednesday. The bill, Mace says, has the backing of the nine-member South Carolina congressional delegation.
The road where the post office branch is located already bears Smalls’ name — 11 Robert Smalls Parkway. Mace called Smalls an “exceptional American” who “leaves an unmistakable legacy of grit, bravery and determination, which is imbued in the spirit of the Lowcountry to this day.”
The name change, she says, will honor his legacy.
Over the course of a year, Mace built consensus with community members, including descendants of Smalls, regarding the renaming of the post office, spokesman John Seibels said. The bill goes to the House floor for a full vote next, Seibels said, and will likely pass easily.
Smalls, who was born April 5, 1839, in Beaufort, became an expert navigator of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. During the Civil War, the Confederate Army conscripted him into service aboard the Planter. On May 13, 1862, a Black crew captained by Smalls hijacked the ammunitions transport ship and turned it over to the Union Navy. Later, Smalls was elected to Congress serving from 1884-87. He purchased his former owner’s house in Beaufort. It still stands at 511 Prince St.
Here’ are some of the other Smalls tributes already in place or in the works:
▪ The Robert Smalls House, 511 Prince St. in The Point neighborhood. It was built in 1843. It is believed that Smalls was born on the property in 1839. After the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort and bought the house.
▪ The Robert Smalls Monument at the Tabernacle Baptist Church, 901 Craven St., was erected in 1876.
▪ Robert Smalls International Academy, 43 West K Alston Drive. A new school is being constructed that will be ready by fall 2023. It will have a new name — Robert Smalls Leadership Academy.
▪ An Army ship, The Maj. Gen. Robert Smalls, was first Army watercraft to be named after an African American. It was recommissioned in 2021.
▪ An Amazon-Prime Video movie is being made called “Steal Away.” It features the story of Smalls’ escape from the Confederate Army and his rise to fame during the Reconstruction Era.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 3:02 PM.
