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[AKvetch]

Carolyn, here's another contender, but notice the qualifier "wealthiest town of its size"...AK

Beaufort
Queen of the Low Country

By Nancy and Richard Woodworth

Life is slow-paced and tranquil in the coastal plain of sea islands, salt marshes and tidal estuaries called the Low Country. In these watery habitats sea turtles and wildlife nest, resorts and golf courses thrive and the African-American Gullah dialect is spoken in the shadow of the vast Parris Island Marine Corps recruit training center.

At its heart is Beaufort, off the beaten path roughly midway between Charleston and Savannah. Pronounced BYOO-fert – in contrast with its North Carolina cousin, BO-fert – this is "the queen of the Carolina Sea Islands."

Beaufort lies on Port Royal Island, facing the broad Beaufort River and Port Royal Sound, part of the Intracoastal Waterway. Founded in 1711, the town is the second oldest in South Carolina. It prospered particularly from 1820 to 1860 when cotton was king and Beaufort was the wealthiest, most aristocratic town of its size in America. This was the getaway place for wealthy plantation owners, who built elaborate second homes along the waterfront to escape, if only by a few degrees, the torrid inland summer heat.

Here was where South Carolina decided to secede from the Union. Its residents fled as Union forces took Beaufort early in the Civil War. It became the Union Army base in the Deep South and its houses were turned into hospitals. This was one of few Southern cities to escape Sherman’s touch.

The grand houses remain, testaments to a way of life still cherished by generations of Beaufort families. With few contemporary intrusions, the entire downtown is designated a national historic district. It’s said to comprise the single richest concentration of antebellum dwellings in America.

Dripping with Southern charm, much like the spanish moss strewn from its trees, Beaufort became the Newport of the South in the early 20th century. Relatively recently, newcomers attracted by its cultivated, laid-back lifestyle have opened inns, restaurants and shops as the area doubled in population since 1970.

Beaufort was heralded as the South’s hottest small town by Vogue magazine in the 1990s. The town of 9,600 is big enough to support a daily newspaper and a quarterly magazine but small enough to be ignored by most chain stores and hotels.

Its antebellum and subtropical charms fulfill filmmakers’ dreams. Best-selling hometown author Pat Conroy’s books come alive as you walk through the legendary streets of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, as well as of The Big Chill and Forrest Gump. Beaufort is the perfect movie set because it looks and feels like one.

http://www.getawayguides.com/scarolina/beaufort/beaufort.htm