Discover Hampton County: History, Festivals and Nature

Hampton County offers several ways to plan your trip: museums and local history sit alongside festivals, fishing opportunities and nature activities. First consider which topics matter to you and whether you want to plan your stay around a specific event date.

Nature, Water and Outdoor Activities

The Webb Center Lakes comprise two small lakes covering 7 and 10 acres. You can fish for largemouth bass, sunfish, shellcracker and catfish in the lakes. If you want to include fishing in your stay, both the size of the bodies of water and the specific fish species are relevant to your plans.

The Estill Nature Walking and Nature Trail is a quarter-mile long, with educational stations along the way. A walk with these stations combines exercise with interesting information along the route. Check trail conditions locally if you plan to include this activity.

Museums and the History of Education

The Hampton Colored School Museum and Resource Center is a history museum about Hampton’s African American community. Built in 1931, the Hampton Colored School was the only educational institution for the community’s Black children. It was restored and listed on both the South Carolina Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. The school’s history, its restoration and its two historic register listings are central to this place of remembrance.

The Hampton Museum and Visitors' Center features exhibits on a range of local topics, including Indigenous knowledge, the Watermelon Festival, military exhibits and art. Exhibits may change over time. The museum also has more than 50 books on family history and has documented more than 125 cemeteries. These collections and research resources offer a distinctive way to explore family and local history.

Volunteers offer free walking and museum tours. Whether a tour is available on your preferred date may depend on volunteer schedules. Keep this scheduling consideration in mind if you want to include a tour in your travel plans.

Operated by the Hampton County Historical Society, the museum in the Historic Old Jail preserves artifacts, materials and family stories for residents and visitors. The society also develops and hosts public educational programs and events about the culture and heritage of Hampton County. These institutional collections and public educational offerings complement the topics explored at individual museums.

Local History and Special Connections

The Brunson Museum and Visitors' Center is located in Brunson’s original town hall. Its collection includes artifacts, photographs, paintings and other memorabilia relating to the history of Brunson and the surrounding area. In Estill, the Estill Museum is housed in a building that originally served as the town’s first town hall and jail. Estill Presbyterian Church also has a historic connection: it is the second-oldest Presbyterian church in Hampton County.

The original artesian well, powered by a windmill, still flows on Courthouse Square. Varnville, meanwhile, served as the setting for Greenbow, Alabama, the fictional town in the film Forrest Gump. These varied connections range from a well that is still in operation to former public buildings and a film location.

Festivals and When to Visit

The Watermelon Festival has been held every June since 1939 on the Hampton County Courthouse Square. Each September, Yemassee hosts the Shrimp Festival. The festivals offer different calendar anchors: June for the Watermelon Festival and September for the Shrimp Festival. If you plan your trip around an event, check the specific dates and current program in advance.

Regional Context

Hampton County is one of the four southernmost counties in South Carolina’s Lowcountry & Resort Islands region. When deciding what to do, you can connect the regional context with specific local interests, such as museum collections and the history of education, a festival date, fishing or the nature trail.

Explore More Destinations

Explore more destinations: Yemassee, Hampton-Varnville Airport, Estill, Charleston, Marlboro County, Richland, Orangeburg County, Clarendon.

For the broader travel overview: South Carolina.