9 Storybook Towns In South Carolina

South Carolina’s storybook charm lives in its antebellum houses and courthouse squares that have anchored towns since the 1700s. Beaufort captures that atmosphere perfectly with its film-famous streets seen in Forrest Gump and grand homes along the Intracoastal Waterway. Camden brings a different kind of old-world appeal, pairing horse traditions at Springdale Race Course with Revolutionary War history at the visitor center. From the Lowcountry to the inland hills, these 9 towns invite you to step back in time.

Beaufort

Beaufort might be South Carolina’s most picture-perfect small town, right down to the Spanish moss creeping up the trees and buildings. Along the Intracoastal Waterway, in neighborhoods like The Point, grand antebellum homes line the streets, showcasing the town’s age and maintaining a look that seems to have leapt out of the 1800s. Its storybook look is so specific to the mind’s idea of a quaint southern community that it has been featured in multiple major films, such as Forrest Gump and The Big Chill.

One thing many people do not know about Beaufort is its connection to the kazoo. If there’s anything that could make a town seem more like it was pulled from the pages of a children’s book, it’s a kazoo. At Kazoobie Kazoos, visitors can see how this beloved instrument came to be and how the facility manufactures and ships more than a million of these objects annually. When all that kazoo music builds up an appetite, stroll back through the historic streets of Beaufort to find Lady's Island Dockside. This restaurant sits right on the water and offers outdoor seating, offering patrons incredible views as they enjoy southern classics and fresh seafood.

Camden

Older than any other inland settlement in South Carolina, Camden is defined by a unique equestrian culture that sets it apart from anywhere else in the state. Camden has countless horse farms just outside the town’s limits, so much of the annual events and culture here are centered on these beautiful animals, from the Springdale Race Course, which hosts the Carolina Cup, to the on-site National Steeplechase Museum.

Step into the heart of town, and you can see its age and allure beyond the eccentric race weekends around the course. For starters, you have delicious eats of classic southern cuisine to treat your stomach and your soul at the 1786 Steakhouse. In the historic district, Colonial and Federal-era properties stand unchanged for centuries, a marvel of a bygone time in the South. Since the community dates well before the Revolutionary War, it is not surprising that it is tied to this tumultuous time in American history. The best place to become educated on South Carolina’s tide-changing involvement in the American Revolution is the Revolutionary War Visitor Center.

Georgetown

Georgetown is an interesting small town that seems like a place from a story simply because five different rivers all come to meet right here. The town is so unique in its aging architecture, with sprawling plantations and mansions, that it earned recognition from USA Today in 2018 as America’s Best Coastal Small Town. Agriculture has long been the heritage and history here, specifically rice, giving the town a quiet charm and keeping it modestly small at under 10,000 residents. To learn more about the role rice played in Georgetown's growth and evolution, check out the Rice Museum on Front Street.

Part of the allure and charm of Georgetown lies in its history, even beyond its agricultural heritage. Maritime has long been a tradition in all of South Carolina's coastal communities, and this proud history is well displayed at the South Carolina Maritime Museum. The southern charm of the community is also evident in its eateries, such as the popular River Room Restaurant, serving up southern classics in a dining room that hangs over the water.

Pendleton

Pendleton retains a very quiet, charming appearance despite its proximity to Clemson and its massive namesake university. Here, the town sits right where the Blue Ridge begins to form, creating a stunning backdrop when visitors are not swept up by the historic Village Green, the central town square that has operated here since the late 1700s, with its 18th- and 19th-century buildings. More than fifty protected structures fill the Pendleton Historic District, each lending a small piece of the community's aged charm.

To get a close-up look at some of these historic structures, interested history buffs should begin the tour at Woodburn Historic House. This 19th-century plantation was once the central home overseeing roughly 2,000 acres of farmland and is reminiscent of the mansions seen in Charleston, built in Early Classical or Greek Revival styles. Even with the small population, Pendleton is not without some quality places to eat and shop, and many find their way to Mac Smith’s Country Store for South Carolina-style hot dogs (made with mustard, chili, and onions), hearty burgers, and specialties like the fried flounder sandwich.

Abbeville

Much like many other destinations in South Carolina, the small town of Abbeville is a special place to visit for its historical properties that still stand. Opened in 1904, the Abbeville Opera House stands at the center of everything, with its Beaux-Arts architecture, and is still bustling with music and theater today. Instead of modernizing downtown and the Court Square, old storefronts retain their Victorian charm through careful care over the decades. Abbeville is also widely considered one of the Confederacy's birthplaces and, subsequently, its end. It hosted the first meeting to begin secession proceedings and would also host the dissolution meeting at the Burt-Stark Mansion when the Civil War ended.

Abbeville is also home to several popular dining spots when visitors travel among the historical sites. On Trinity Street, folks enjoy the Indigenous Underground for an extensive burger menu, as well as staples like fettuccine, soul rolls with house chili sauce, and their Cuban sandwich.

Conway

A stroll through Conway can quickly show its storybook qualities. Everything about Conway is the intentionally slow vibes the Deep South is most known for, from the moss-covered cypress trees to the boardwalk along the Waccamaw River. The Conway Riverwalk is a tranquil path along this river, with grassy areas, benches, and playgrounds, perfect for taking a moment to appreciate the scenery.

As one of the oldest towns in the state, Conway’s history is celebrated in all its forms during the annual Conway Ghost Walk in October. Countless visitors wind through the streets to ancient graveyards, old storefronts, and antebellum homes on the hunt for ghosts. Before setting out to find the town’s history (or ghosts), get your fill at one of Conway’s most popular eateries on Laurel Street, Coppers Restaurant. This upscale restaurant is all about American fare, from fried pork chops to shrimp and grits.

Newberry

Newberry is easily one of the most storybook communities in South Carolina, and this distinction goes far beyond Newberry College and its stone architecture and lively energy. Travel Channel names it one of the Most Charming Small Towns in America, and that has much to do with some of its most memorable attractions. Built in 1882, the Newberry Opera House shines as the town’s most striking landmark and continues to feature concerts, plays, and musicals to this day.

Along nearby streets, rows of aged commercial buildings echo the same late-19th-century style, and this is where you can find C.T. Summer Hardware & Antiques. This is a bit of everything from a hardware store to a museum, and was even featured on the show American Pickers at one point. With all this charm to discover, an appetite is sure to follow. Take a break from the historic streets of Newberry for a meal at The Grille on Main, a restaurant right on the lake with country-fried steak, salmon, and grilled scallops.

York

When visitors come to York, it is easy to see the appearance found in a novel, with the extensive historic district at the center of everything downtown. 180 different examples of historic architecture find a home on the National Register of Historic Places as well as in must-visit locations for history buffs like the Historical Center of York County, and in Revolutionary War-era memorial landmarks like Kings Mountain National Military Park.

But even beyond York's historical significance, its friendly spirit is one of the city’s attractive qualities. You can see it in eateries like the Garden Café, with its rustic vibes and quirky on-site gift shop. People come here for all kinds of southern staples like key lime pie, salmon, and the signature Feet in the Creek Burger. In the fall, the farms around York also add to this storybook kind of charm, with events like the Fall Festival at Black’s Peaches in October that are quintessential fall fun, from hayrides and corn mazes to a farm playground and pumpkin chunkin’.

Walterboro

When looking for the most charming and attractive towns that popped from the pages of a storybook, Walterboro is a clear candidate and has been since the early 1800s. This whole community, which locals have taken to calling ‘the front porch of the Lowcountry,’ was originally laid out and constructed as a summer refuge for the planters, so much of the architecture reflects relaxation and grandeur, such as antebellum cottages and Greek Revival-style houses.

In the same vein of embracing the creative and hobby side of life, this is also a town that attracts nature enthusiasts to spots like the Walterboro Wildlife Sanctuary, a sprawling protected estuarine preserve with scenic boardwalks winding through cypress and tupelo wetlands, and artists to spots like the South Carolina Artisans Center. Like the other storybook towns of South Carolina, Walterboro has its own connection to American conflicts, as the site of training for the famous Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. Today at the Lowcountry Regional Airport, formerly the Walterboro Army Airfield, you can find the monument honoring these brave men and the history of the location as a POW camp and hospital.

A Storybook Experience In South Carolina

Whether someone is looking for antebellum architecture dripping with slow, southern charms, as you find in Walterboro, or one-of-a-kind landmarks like the Newberry Opera House, storybook towns are not difficult to find in South Carolina. The state has much to offer, from coastal communities like Georgetown that showcase their maritime tales to some of the oldest settlements, like Conway, that predate the American Revolution and now tell their stories through late-night ghost tours. When it’s a storybook town travelers want, they can often find it in the Palmetto State.