On the northeast corner of Prince and New Streets in central Beaufort, the Robert Smalls House at 511 Prince Street holds layers of history in its walls. This two-story wood-frame house, with a side gable roof and a two-story porch running across its south-facing front, holds layers of history in its walls. A two-story ell extends to the rear, shaping the home into a basic T. Built in 1843 and altered several times, the house began with a single-story porch and ell and saw those features expanded to two stories in 1850 and again in 1870.
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974 for its association with Robert Smalls (1839–1915), this is the house where Smalls, born into slavery in 1839, spent most of his early years. His master—and father—was Henry McKee (Son of John McKee). Smalls went on to achieve notice for commandeering the CSS Planter and sailing her to freedom during the American Civil War, and after the war he represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives during Reconstruction.
Around 1851 he was hired out to work in Charleston. Picture young Robert Smalls on this porch, years before he sailed the CSS Planter to freedom.