Beaufort was chartered as the second major settlement in South Carolina and named after Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort.

At two weeks into 2011, Beaufort is going full speed ahead with its celebrations of our city's 300th year.

Or, is it?

Patrick Donohue over at The Island Packet has taken a lighthearted look at our city's English charter in 1711 and pondered if we weren't really incorporated until December 1803, when our area lobbied the South Carolina government. 

But the real point here is not to challenge the date of our city's creation but to cast a light back onto our city's small beginnings and changing method of government.

Take a read here.

Meanwhile the paper has also penned a column cheering on the progress Beaufort has made during the last 300 years; read that here.

• Keep up with the Beaufort Tricentennial on our topic page and area history stories on this topic page.