Port Royal Map
Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas (including Parris Island), the population of the Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Port Royal is included within the Beaufort Urban Cluster and the larger Hilton Head Island–Beaufort Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Frenchman Jean Ribault explored the Port Royal Sound waterways and harbours in 1562, and founded the short-lived settlement of Charlesfort there. The area later became the site of a Spanish and still later Scottish colony during the 17th century. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was first read at Christmas under the Proclamation tree in Port Royal. Port Royal hosts the Soft Shell Crab Festival every year in late April during the short soft shell crab season.
The famous hurricane scene from the 1994 film Forrest Gump was filmed in the town's dock area.
Nearby cities include Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Ridgeland, Beaufort.