April 29th 23 stops or so later, the last Post Office! Hardeeville, SC

Hardeeville is a town in Jasper county that is just off I-95, and at the gateway to Beaufort, where I lived from 1962-1964. It was a sleepy little town then, now it has lots of motels, and is famous for being halfway between Florida and New York. 

                Hardeeville, South Carolina

Hardeeville
City
City of Hardeeville
Coordinates: 32°17′2″N 81°4′43″W / 32.28389°N 81.07861°W / 32.28389; -81.07861Coordinates: 32°17′2″N 81°4′43″W / 32.28389°N 81.07861°W / 32.28389; -81.07861
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
County	Jasper County
Incorporated	1911
Government
• Mayor	Bronco Bostick
Area
• Total	49.7 sq mi (128.7 km2)
• Land	49.7 sq mi (128.7 km2)
Elevation	23 ft (7 m)
Population
• Estimate (2012)	3,772[1]
• Density	162.1/sq mi (419.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	29927 29909 (portions of) 29936 (portions of)
Area code(s)	843
FIPS code	45-32245[2]
GNIS feature ID	1223032[3]
Website	www.cityofhardeeville.com

Hardeeville is a city in Jasper and Beaufort counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 3,772 in 2012 based on estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Hardeeville is included within the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort Metropolitan Statistical Area.

For many years, Hardeeville billed itself as the "Lowcountry Host" due to the prevalence of lodging facilities along U.S. Highway 17 and later Interstate 95. In recent years, the city has expanded its economic focus due to population growth pressures and new opportunities. Hardeeville was among the fastest growing cities in the Southeast in the 2000s as new and proposed development began to take shape. From 2000 to 2010, the city's population grew nearly 65 percent. Over that same time period the city limits expanded from 4.5 miles to just under 50 square miles in size due to annexation of large tracts for future development.

History

The earliest European settlement in the region was Purrysburg, a former Swiss Huguenot and German settlement founded in 1732 on the banks of the Savannah River, about two miles (3 km) northwest of the current city's center. The settlement ultimately failed as disease and competition from growing Savannah proved too much for the local settlers to overcome. Many left the immediate area, moving elsewhere in the Lowcountry region (including a new hamlet called Switzerland) or upriver to the new communities of Augusta and Hamburg, though some remained.

The area saw some skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. The Charleston and Savannah Railway (today's CSX railway) was considered a prized possession and major strategic goal for Union forces. In an effort to defend the railroad, the Battle of Honey Hill was one of the last battles won by southern forces in late 1864, shortly before General William Sherman attacked South Carolina