Harriet Tubman Monument (14-ft hand-sculpted bronze figure by Ed Dwight, next to Tabernacle Baptist Church, Craven Street, downtown Beaufort)

Beaufort, South Carolina, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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A 14-foot bronze of Harriet Tubman by sculptor Ed Dwight stands beside Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street in downtown Beaufort, South Carolina. It was unveiled on 1 June 2024 and marks her June 1863 mission on the Combahee River.

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Harriet Tubman Monument (14-ft hand-sculpted bronze figure by Ed Dwight, next to Tabernacle Baptist Church, Craven Street, downtown Beaufort)

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Site-level location · 32.4316° N, 80.6698° W

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The story

Beside Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street in downtown Beaufort stands a 14-foot bronze of Harriet Tubman, which Explore Beaufort describes as the first monument in South Carolina marking her daring mission of June 1863 along the Combahee River.

According to Explore Beaufort, the monument was unveiled on a Saturday afternoon, 1 June 2024, after nearly seven years of fundraising, and about 700 people attended. The Island News dates the unveiling to the 161st anniversary of the Combahee River Raid and reports that the work cost about $600,000, raised entirely from private donations over eight years. Accounts of the fundraising period differ, from nearly seven years to eight.

The sculptor is Ed Dwight. The Island News says the figure shows Tubman with a walking stick, flanked by Union soldiers, and that a crew mounted the base and statue on a concrete slab the day before the unveiling. Explore Beaufort describes a bronze pedestal carrying scenes of enslaved people fleeing towards escape and refuge in 1863, along with a soldier, and says there is space for interpretive text about the Combahee River raid and Tubman's work in Beaufort.

In a November 2025 post, Emerging Civil War described the monument, from a visit in July 2025, as sitting next to the 161-year-old church on Craven Street, and places the street within the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. The post repeats the claim that it is the first in the state to mark her Combahee mission.

The monument stands outdoors beside a church, so visits are best treated as a quiet stop on a walk through downtown Beaufort.

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A freestanding 14-foot bronze beside Tabernacle Baptist Church, with scenes from 1863 on its pedestal and space for interpretive text. Explore Beaufort reported its unveiling in June 2024, and Emerging Civil War described a July 2025 visit.

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On Craven Street beside Tabernacle Baptist Church, downtown Beaufort, South Carolina. It is an outdoor monument next to the church; Explore Beaufort (2024) and Emerging Civil War (2025) place it there.

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28 km away

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