Port Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal, South Carolina | ||
---|---|---|
FIPS code 45-58030[4] | | |
GNIS feature ID | 1250223[5] | |
Website | www.portroyal.org |
Port Royal is a
History
Port Royal takes its name from the adjacent
colony during the 17th century.Port Royal was the site of the Naval Battle of Port Royal during the Civil War. Later during the war, it was the one of the sites of the Port Royal Experiment, which included most of the Sea Islands in Union hands. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was first read at Christmas under the Proclamation tree in Port Royal.
Due to the benefits of a large and sheltered natural harbor, Port Royal was able to develop port facilities to support the growing phosphate mining activities after the Civil War. The Port Royal Railroad was completed from Port Royal to a junction with the main Charleston and Savannah Railway in Yemassee, thus establishing a land route for trade and commerce. Port Royal was the southeastern terminus of the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway, the railroad last had passenger trains to Port Royal in the mid-1950s.[6][7] Development of a community around the previously isolated port site at the end of the Beaufort River and Battery Creek led to the platting of streets and town lots by development interests. A land rush ensued, and Port Royal was officially incorporated in 1874, 300 years after initial settlement efforts.
The
The Camp Saxton Site, Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve, Hasell Point Site, Little Barnwell Island, F.W. Scheper Store, and Union Church of Port Royal are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[9]
Neighborhoods
The Old Village is the historic center of Port Royal. Streets running north–south are named after the capitals of nations whose immigrants have settled in the Port Royal area (Paris, London, Madrid, and Edinburgh). Paris Avenue is the primary commercial street in the Old Village. Immediately north of the Old Village is a low-density residential area known as Mossy Creek, which crosses over into incorporated areas of the city of Beaufort to the north. A large portion of Port Royal's population lives in the Preserve at Port Royal Apartments, in between the Old Village and Mossy Creek.
Historically, Port Royal's municipal boundaries were defined by Beaufort to the north, the Beaufort River to the east, Parris Island to the south, and Battery Creek to the west. Since the start of the 21st century however, Port Royal began to annex lands west and south of its core area. The Parris Island Marine Corps Base was annexed on October 11, 2000, effectively doubling the municipal population overnight due to on-base housing. Port Royal also annexed properties in the Shell Point and Burton areas of Beaufort County.
Challenges were filed, and the 2000 annexation of undeveloped Rose Island was to be heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2005. Town representatives said the city annexed Rose Island because it was within the "line of sight" of the Doggett Tract, a group of islands off Shell Point already under the town's jurisdiction.[10]
In 2006, Port Royal annexed two tracts of land south of the Broad River based on the so-called line-of-sight rule.
Culture
In film
The hurricane scene from the 1994 film Forrest Gump was filmed in the town's dock area.
Community events
Paris Avenue (the main street of the Old Village) periodically hosts Street Music events throughout the year. Port Royal also hosts an annual soft shell crab festival in late April and a community oyster roast in late October. Beaufort Charities hosts its annual Oyster Roast in Live Oaks Park in March.
Geography
Port Royal has expanded in recent times by annexation of parcels of land on the west side of Battery Creek.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.0 square miles (57.0 km2), of which 19.0 square miles (49.1 km2) is land and 3.1 square miles (7.9 km2), or 13.92%, is water.[11]
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1880 | 170 | — | |
1890 | 524 | 208.2% | |
1900 | 601 | 14.7% | |
1910 | 363 | −39.6% | |
1920 | 383 | 5.5% | |
1930 | 353 | −7.8% | |
1940 | 342 | −3.1% | |
1950 | 793 | 131.9% | |
1960 | 686 | −13.5% | |
1970 | 2,865 | 317.6% | |
1980 | 2,977 | 3.9% | |
1990 | 2,985 | 0.3% | |
2000 | 3,950 | 32.3% | |
2010 | 10,678 | 170.3% | |
2020 | 14,220 | 33.2% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[1][3] |
2020 census
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic)
|
8,323 | 58.53% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|
2,773 | 19.5% |
Native American
|
38 | 0.27% |
Asian
|
327 | 2.3% |
Pacific Islander
|
14 | 0.1% |
Other/Mixed
|
652 | 4.59% |
Latino
|
2,093 | 14.72% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,220 people, 3,868 households, and 2,291 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the
There were 1,660 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 14.6% from 18 to 24, 34.2% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $36,599, and the median income for a family was $40,867. Males had a median income of $26,942 versus $23,671 for females. The
Transportation
Port Royal is served by
Notable person
- General Randolph M. Pate (1898-1961), Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1956-1959
References
- ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ United States Census Bureau (December 29, 2022). "2020 Census Qualifying Urban Areas and Final Criteria Clarifications". Federal Register.
- ^ a b "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ a b "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "Charleston & Western Carolina Railway". Official Guide of the Railways. 87 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1954.
- ^ "Charleston & Western Carolina Railway [freight only]". Official Guide of the Railways. 90 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1957.
- ^ Peterson, Kyle (March 23, 2011). "U.S. Census: Beaufort County grew by 34 percent over last decade". The Island Packet. Hilton Head, SC. Archived from the original on March 25, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Geoff ZIEZULEWICZ, "Judge to hear Port Royal annexation suit", Beaufort Gazette, reprinted in Island Packet, 1 June 2005
- ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Port Royal town, South Carolina". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
External links
- Town of Port Royal official website
- Port Royal, SC Convention and Visitor's Bureau Archived 2012-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .