“B” is for Bluffton

“B” is for Bluffton (Beaufort County; 2020 population 28,230). Bluffton originated as a summer resort from antebellum plantation owners of Saint Luke’s Parish in Beaufort District. Located on the twenty-foot high bluffs of the May River and facing the cool, southerly winds, it was an ideal summer refuge. The town, known first simply as May River and later as Kirk's Bluff, was officially named Bluffton in 1844. Bluffton was incorporated by the General Assembly in 1852. The development of Hilton Head as a major tourist destination in the early 1970s marked a revitalization of Bluffton. Annexation and the spread of Hilton Head’s resort and tourism economy  led to a seventy-five percent increase in the town’s population during the 1990s. Like other coastal communities, Bluffton has seen even greater population growth and development in the twenty-first century.