History Museums

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Monday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Tuesday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Wednesday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Thursday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Friday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Saturday

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Write a review

About

To relive the area's rich history, start with a visit to Beaufort History Museum at the historic Arsenal (1798) in downtown Beaufort! One of our knowledgeable docents will guide you through 450 years of Beaufort's past, recounting stories about this place that shaped America. (During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking recommended precautionary measures to keep our visitors and docents safe.)

Duration: 1-2 hours

Suggest edits to improve what we show.

Improve this listing

Tours & experiences

Explore different ways to experience this place.

Full view

Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience Beaufort History Museum and nearby attractions

The area

Address

Reach out directly

Best nearby

We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.

Restaurants

115 within 3 miles

Old Bull Tavern

1,420

0.1 mi££ - £££ • Gastropub • Vegetarian friendly • Vegan options

Breakwater Restaurant and Bar

747

515 ft££££ • American • Contemporary • Vegetarian friendly

Wren Bistro

1,197

366 ft££ - £££ • American • Bar • Vegetarian friendly

Blackstone's Cafe

876

0.1 mi££ - £££ • American • Cafe • Vegetarian friendly

Lowcountry Produce Market & Cafe

760

278 ft££ - £££ • American • Vegetarian friendly • Vegan options

Saltus River Grill

1,424

0.2 mi££££ • Steakhouse • Seafood • Contemporary

Southern Sweets Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop

237

0.2 mi£ • Dessert • American

City Java & News

277

325 ft£ • Quick Bites • American • Cafe

Common Ground

363

0.2 mi£ • Dessert • American • Cafe

Panini's on the Waterfront

1,404

0.2 mi££ - £££ • Italian • American • Bar

See all

Attractions

58 within 6 miles

Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

25

87 ftHistory Museums

Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park

1,140

0.1 miParks

John Mark Verdier House

105

0.1 miHistory Museums • Government Buildings

Robert Smalls Monument

21

311 ftPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Monuments & Statues

Bachelor Hill Antiques

0.2 miPoints of Interest & Landmarks

Tabernacle Baptist Church

13

0.1 miHistoric Sites • Churches & Cathedrals

See what travellers are saying

DayTrip01381310493
1 contribution
A good place for the history overview of Beaufort, SC!
So much history in Beaufort, SC! Excellent docent-led visit. You could go through the museum displays yourself, but you'll miss out on the docent stories that make history come alive. Allow about an hour for the tour. It's worth it!
Visited January 2024
Travelled with family
Written 27 January 2024
Cynthia R
5 contributions
Deep Dive into Beaufort History
Tom Kelley was an absolute wealth of knowledge. Who knew that this town and surrounding areas had such deep history!?! As a result of our time with Tom, we will be back to explore all of the places we can’t get to this weekend. What a jewel to have this in the downtown area!
Visited April 2024
Travelled as a couple
Written 27 April 2024
Daydream11631428483
1 contribution
Great museum guide
Absolutely the best. Elaine LeBlanc kept us captivated with her historical knowledge of Beaufort. We had the best time and encourage visitors to add this to their tour of Beaufort. Thanks again, Elaine (True Grit)
Visited April 2024
Travelled with family
Written 8 May 2024
Rob L
22 contributions
Amazing Tour!
What a delightful tour! We went not knowing what to expect...what we got was a very interesting and in-depth presentation by an extremely knowledgeable tour guide (Tom Kelly), full of side stories and little interesting facts. Our brains felt full with all we were presented on the long and interesting history of the area. We HIGHLY recommend this if you have any interest in history.
Visited June 2024
Travelled as a couple
Written 1 June 2024

These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Contribute

Write a review Upload a photo

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.

Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews

Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.

When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.

Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.

Learn more about our review moderation.

4.5

146 reviews

Excellent

69

Very good

55

Average

16

Poor

3

Terrible

3

Lisa Harmon

Kennebunks, Maine13 contributions

A must visit when you're in town!

Jan 2023

We visited the Museum property on our first day in town but were too late for the tour; we spoke with Jenny in the visitor center and she gave us some great ideas for things to do to learn about the local history and suggested some wonderful places to eat. We took her advice and took the tour with Janet the next day (which Jenny nicely booked for us) and got so much history about Beaufort! We were also able to come back the next day for the Museum tour here and we met with the Docent, Tom Kelley. WOW. That man knows this area and it's history! He literally walked us through history from the beginning of the explorers arriving, through the wars and into the mid 1900's. He explains everything so well and allows time for questions; very friendly and happy to answer questions, he really made the tour worth taking! I highly recommend visiting the Museum while in town and ask for Tom! Also say hello to Jenny :)

Written 1 February 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

hsbvim

Dublin, OH1,146 contributions

A Way to Get More Accurate Understanding of Beaufort's Beginnings

Jan 2022

This museum is located in the Beaufort Armory (also called Arsenal). It is primary a lot of placards to read. We enjoyed learning that Beaufort's history with Europeans goes back to the 1500's - something that we didn't learn from American history books when we were growing up!

There was no real history of the armory itself. We learned more about it from our tour guide on the red carriage ride than we did at the armory. That would be a nice addition to the museum's display.

For the $7 entry fee, we had expected a lot more.

Written 3 February 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

boop33399

Denver, CO12 contributions

Museum tour not to be missed!

Mar 2023

We were so lucky to learn about this jewel of a museum amidst all the worthwhile attractions in this historic town. We were treated to an hour + tour presented by an extremely well versed and entertaining volunteer docent, Tom Kelly. We left this site totally enlightened about the historical events of this area and enriched with new knowledge about the people who made these events and inhabited this region. Thanks to the city and the volunteers who make this a very worthwhile place to visit.

Written 17 March 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

bwal2n

Chapin, SC15 contributions

Not large, but neat and airy with great staff

Jul 2020

Very attractive and informative displays. Gary gave us a private tour (it's not terribly crowded) and we squeezed in two and a half hours of visits around a carriage tour. The front desk/gift shop managers were all friendly and helpful.

Written 4 July 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BHM-info

Thank you for coming, bwal2n. We're glad you enjoyed your visit.

Written 5 July 2020

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

DayTrip01381310493

1 contribution

A good place for the history overview of Beaufort, SC!

Jan 2024 • Family

So much history in Beaufort, SC! Excellent docent-led visit. You could go through the museum displays yourself, but you'll miss out on the docent stories that make history come alive. Allow about an hour for the tour. It's worth it!

Written 27 January 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Daydream11631428483

1 contribution

Great museum guide

Apr 2024 • Family

Absolutely the best. Elaine LeBlanc kept us captivated with her historical knowledge of Beaufort. We had the best time and encourage visitors to add this to their tour of Beaufort.

Thanks again, Elaine (True Grit)

Written 8 May 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LittlePaint

Urbandale, IA745 contributions

Visitor center review

Mar 2020 • Couples

We did not go to the museum, but we did spend time in the visitor center with Jennifer. She was awesome telling us about places in Beaufort and the Sea Islands that we might want to visit complete with excellent directions.

I'd called earlier to ask for suggestions for a place to park my camper, Jennifer told me right away about a free (!) parking lot that would easily accommodate my motor coach.

Excellent resource!

Written 12 March 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rob L

22 contributions

Amazing Tour!

Jun 2024 • Couples

What a delightful tour! We went not knowing what to expect...what we got was a very interesting and in-depth presentation by an extremely knowledgeable tour guide (Tom Kelly), full of side stories and little interesting facts. Our brains felt full with all we were presented on the long and interesting history of the area. We HIGHLY recommend this if you have any interest in history.

Written 1 June 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

buckeyebatman

Georgetown, SC184 contributions

Nice history of the area.

Apr 2022 • Couples

$8 per person. Upstairs area with lots of information. You can do a self tour, QR code your or guided tour. Guided tour lasts about 45 minutes. If you like history and want to know more about the area, it is worth the trip.

Written 23 April 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Venture794567

1 contribution

Excellent museum and tour!

Apr 2023 • Couples

The docent, Mr Kelly, was fantastic! He gave us a complete and thorough tour and history of the area. He made us feel as though we were there when the events happened. He is a Smithsonian-level expert. Don’t miss this museum and exhibits on your visit!

Written 9 April 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

2

…

Showing results 1-10 of 142