Historic Walterboro, South Carolina

When I think of historic towns, often places like Savannah, Charleston, or Jamestown come to mind. Certainly, these are historic places and worthy of our attention. However, there are other places worth exploring for their historic and/or architectural significance. The small town of Walterboro, South Carolina is one such place.

Fripp Fishburne Hiott House

Church of the Atonement

Walterboro was founded by Paul and Jacob Walter in 1784 and the town folk are very proud of their heritage. The Walterboro-Colleton County Chamber of Commerce has done an outstanding job of mapping out a 3-mile self-guided walking tour and publishing a small “guidebook” with extensive descriptions of homes, churches, and other sites along the route. If you are into old churches, there are several along the route. If your thing is architecture, then you won’t be disappointed with examples of lowcountry federal, Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Gothic, Greek Revival, and Neo-gothic styles.

There are two distinct historic districts in Walterboro. The walk, which begins at the South Carolina Artisans Center, passes first through the Hickory Valley area which is located near the original village. Many of the buildings in this area were built in the early 1820s, 30s, and 40s. As was typical of that time and even today, the original house had second stories, piazzas, or even columns added over time. Many buildings were completely or partially destroyed by a cyclone in 1879 and rebuilt, in some cases salvaging doors or windows from other destroyed buildings in the area. The end result of these additions and restorations may be more charming than the original. Of course, gracing it all are azaleas, camellias, and the majestic live oaks.

Colleton County Courthouse

The second historic area is the business district of old Walterboro. In this area, in addition to churches and homes, are schools, government buildings, and the downtown shopping district. City Hall was originally built in 1940 as part of the WPA project. It too has been remodeled and expanded. Perhaps the most distinctive building on the tour is the old jail. The Colleton Museum and Chamber of Commerce occupy this building that looks like an old castle.

Our feet were tired from this little tour, so we stopped in a small bookstore with a coffee bar for a cup of java. On down the street is Hiott’s Pharmacy which features an old fashion soda fountain and a lunch counter. The downtown shopping district is comprised of several antique stores as well as a bookstore and a restaurant.

We took a few minutes at the beginning of your walk to browse the collection of fabulous hand-crafted items in the SC Artisans Center. It is in places like this that I often find that special souvenir I’ve been looking for. In your travels, don’t neglect “Small Town”, USA. Sometimes they are the real treasures of an area.