Lady’s Island sits directly across the Beaufort River from downtown Beaufort, close enough that the crossing takes a moment rather than a journey. You make it on the Woods Memorial Bridge, which carries US 21 Business and went onto the National Register in its own right in January 2023.
From the island the roads open out in three directions. The J. E. McTeer bridge takes you south to Port Royal, SC 802 runs east toward Sams Point, and US 21 carries on to the sea islands beyond, Dataw among them, so wherever you are heading on this part of the coast you are likely to come through here.
Everyday life gathers along Sea Island Parkway and Sams Point Road, which the county identifies as the island’s business district and where most errands get done. Beaufort Executive Airport sits on the island as well, on Airport Circle, handling general aviation, fueling and servicing rather than scheduled flights.
The island also keeps a good deal of public ground. Whitehall Park spreads over nearly ten acres of riverfront woodland on White Hall Drive, looking back across the water at Beaufort. Crystal Lake Park on Lady’s Island Drive covers 25 acres of forest, wetland and salt marsh around a pond, with a half mile loop trail for anybody who wants a walk close to home.
Smaller and closer in, Brewer Memorial Park occupies a single acre beside the bridge on Sea Island Parkway, and it is how you reach the Factory Creek fishing pier. Families here are served by Beaufort County School District, which runs both Lady’s Island Elementary and Lady’s Island Middle on the island.
One thing changes what any number you read is worth. Lady’s Island is not a town. Part of it lies inside the City of Beaufort and the rest is unincorporated Beaufort County, and it is not a Census-designated place. The Census publishes no place or CDP population for it, so any island-wide figure you see depends on whose boundary was drawn and in which year.
Sourced: bridge listing, National Park Service, January 6 2023, reference SG100008530. Park acreages and addresses, Beaufort County. Business district and airport, Beaufort County. Absence of a Census place or CDP, verified directly against the Census Bureau’s 2020 place and CDP tables for South Carolina and the Vintage 2025 place file. Schools, Beaufort County School District directory.