Carnegie Library

Front: Built in 1917-18, this was one of fourteen libraries constructed in S.C. with funding from the Carnegie Corporation. It was built at the urging of the Clover Club, a local women’s literary group who in 1902 began a small subscription library. The Beaufort Library Society formed in 1802, however Union soldiers confiscated its collection in 1862, leaving Beaufort with no permanent library until this facility opened as the Beaufort Township Library on March 25, 1918. Reverse: The library was built on a lot donated by the Town of Beaufort. Many of its first books were provided by the Clover Club. The library was designed by architect James Hagood Sams of Columbia and built by contractor J.H. Moore of Camden. In 1962, the Beaufort Township Library became a countywide library system following an act of the S.C. General Assembly. The Carnegie Library was replaced in 1964 by a new facility built across Craven Street.