CtC)Cj TOWXS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



and one hundred and eight miles a little east of south from Columbia. 

 It covers an area of one thousand acres. The southern front of the town 

 is on a bluff over the deep and Avide waters of the Port Royal river; along 

 it is a fine broad drive, laid with shell, a mile in length, and a turf-cov- 

 ered promenade, shaded by a growth of massive live oaks. The streets 

 are twei^ty-seven miles in length, and forty to sixty feet wide. They are 

 regularly laid out, running east and west and north and south, dividing 

 tlie town into one hundred and thirty-seven blocks. The sidewalks are 

 neatly curl^ed and raised above the roadways, which are laid with shell, 

 well kept, and shaded by avenues of fine trees. A number of small 

 parks, open squares planted in shade trees and furnished with seats, are 

 interspersed through the town. Wells twenty feet in depth furnish an 

 abundant supply of excellent water, and cisterns for rain water are also 

 used to some extent. The porous, sandy soil absorbs the rains so rapidly 

 that there is little cause for drainage. The sewerage collected by surface 

 and under ground drains is delivered into two large brick sewers, one a 

 thousand, and the other six hundred feet in length, which empty into 

 the river north and south of the town at low water mark. Ea.st of 

 the promenade is the business portion of the town, and the wharves, 

 which hav3 nineteen feet depth of water at low tide. The Sea Island 

 hotel is well located on the promenade, and is large and well kept ; there 

 are a number of good boarding houses. The private houses are well 

 built, and having been erected as residences for the wealthy planters of 

 the sea islands, are much larger and handsomer than those usually met 

 with in towns of this size. Tlie public buildings are the Arsenal, now 

 used as a Court House, the Town Hall, the Steam Fire Engine House 

 and Hall, and two hand fire engine houses. Building material consists 

 chiefly of choice yellow pine lumber, which costs $10 to $15 per thou- 

 sand feet ; tabby, a mixture of shell lime and gravel, was formerly much 

 u-ed for walls and foundations, but is now superseded by the use of 

 brick. The shell road, stretching across the island, furnishes a fine drive, 

 and the facilities for transportation are good, carriages for pleasure drives 

 hiring from seventy-five cents to one dollar per hour. The National 

 cemeter}", just beyond the town limits, covers thirty acres. It is hand- 

 somely laid out, and contains the graves of 10,000 Federal soldiers and 

 sailors who lost their lives in the civil war. There are six other small 

 cemeteries attached to the churches in the town, and a number of bury- 

 ing places outside, now used by the colored people. The St. Helena 

 Episcopal Church, built of tabby and brick, dates from 1720. There is 

 als ) a Baptist church for the whites and a Roman Catholic church. The 

 colore 1 people have two Baptist, two Methodist and one Reformed Epis- 

 copalian church. The whites have a Masonic lodge, and the colored 



