Tabby Structures: Beaufort's Enduring Legacy

A perfect example of historic tabby construction is the Sams Plantation House on Dataw Island. It was built with tabby back in 1786.Photo byCassie Marshall

The Lowcountry is home to many structures that were made of tabby hundreds of years ago. Today, Beaufort County is home to the highest concentration of tabby structures still standing and still visible in the whole country. In fact, you could say that Beaufort SC is indeed a city made from tabby. There's just so much of it still around.

Tabby was introduced by the Spanish in the 1600s as an accessible building material because the traditional clay and brick was not available here in the Beaufort, SC area.

Tabby is a concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, mixing it with water, sand and ash, and then adding crushed and broken oyster shells.

It was used by early Spanish settlers, and then by English colonists, mostly here in coastal South Carolina and also in coastal Georgia.

Tabby played a very important role in the shelter and the defense for early Europeans who were constantly under attack from Native Americans, and sometimes, each other.

Recent research cited indicates that tabby did not appear in Beaufort County until construction began in 1731 by British forces at Fort Frederick on the Beaufort River. Eventually, it became easy to find in Beaufort County, where it was used in fortifications, houses and a many different types of outbuildings.

You will find tabby today in many places around the area.

Many local buildings you can visit today including the Beaufort Arsenal, the Chapel of Ease, Tabby Manse, the Sams Plantation structures, the Saltus House and the Verdier House are all made from tabby; as is the seawall that protects the Point neighborhood in downtown Beaufort, SC.

Other tabby structures can be found in downtown, in Port Royal at Fort Frederick, and at many other locations on St. Helena Island, Dataw Island, Hilton Head and Callawassie islands.

You'll find tabby structures still standing all over the Beaufort, SC area.

But, while you are enjoying a part of the Lowcountry's history up close, these structures are very old and they're also a bit fragile. Please be sure to look, and do not touch.