Did you know that over 15 major Hollywood movies were filmed in or around beautiful Beaufort? They include timeless classics The Great Santini, The Big Chill and The Prince of Tides and popular hits Daughters of the Dust, The War, Jungle Book, Full Metal Jacket and more. But very few stick out like 1994’s Forrest Gump. It’s considered one of the all-time best film and it was filmed right here in Beaufort.
Watching it just makes you feel right at home.
When Paramount Pictures swept into town in August of 1993, everyone was excited that a new movie was filming with Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright and a modestly known newer actor named Gary Sinese. Although most of the story is set in Alabama, filming took place mainly in and around Beaufort, as well as parts of coastal Virginia, North Carolina and in Savannah.
Dozens and dozens of locals were cast as extras in the movie, and location spotters were dispatched all over the Beaufort area to take photographs to determine which local spots were ideal for filming particular scenes of the movie. They brought their rolls of film to be developed as fast as possible to the only film developer in town, John Wright One Hour Photo on Boundary Street.
They must’ve found what they were looking for because the rest is history.
After the movie was released, the 5 month filming in the Beaufort area turned up quite a few local spots that were made into very prominent locations in the movie. In fact, one could almost say that if it weren’t for Beaufort SC, there wouldn’t have been a Forrest Gump.
Here are several prominent Forest Gump movie locations in Beaufort that you can still visit, and recognize, 26 years later.
Gump Medical Center was actually the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus Center for the Arts on Carteret Street in downtown Beaufort. As you can see in the photos, the building remained the same in the movie, but the wonders of CGI (computer generated imagery) changed the sign to say Gump Medical Center.
Part of Sea Island Parkway connecting Lady’s Island to St. Helena Island that crosses Chowan Creek was used as the setting where Forrest enters Mississippi while he was running across the U.S.A. The road has since been redone, but you still drive right through this spot when you’re on your way to Hunting, Harbor and Fripp Islands.
Forrest Gump’s beautiful shrimp boat scenes weren’t filmed in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. They were shot on location along Lucy Creek right here on Lady’s Island. Our sunrises are this fantastic, but timing is everything and this one is most likely CGI. The dock and boat house on Coosaw Island on the other side of Lucy Creek was the setting for the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It was destroyed in Hurricane Matthew but has been rebuilt.
The Vietnam scenes, where Forrest first meets both Bubba and Lieutenant Dan were filmed on Fripp Island and Hunting Island State Park. Also, the spot where Forrest dropped off all of his wounded comrades was along the popular lagoon at Hunting Island.
That wasn’t the Mississippi River that Forrest Gump was crossing as he was running across the U.S.A. It was the Beaufort River, and they were running over the iconic Woods Memorial Bridge in downtown Beaufort. They didn’t have to do anything to change the look of the bridge, but they did add the Mississippi River sign to it.
Bubba Blue’s house is located on Alston Road on Lady’s Island. You’ll remember in the movie, Forrest made good on his and Bubba’s idea to start a shrimping business. After Bubba died in Vietnam, Forrest kept his promise and then visited Bubba’s mother and gave her a check, and she fainted. Bubba’s mother was played by Marlena Smalls, a local speaker, singer and Gullah historian. The choir in the church scene in the movie is the Hallelujah Singers, a group founded by Smalls that she still sings in today.
When Forrest’s hobbies included cutting grass at the local football stadium in Alabama, he was actually cutting the grass at Basil Green Sports Complex, a local city park here in Beaufort. CGI turned it from a baseball field to a football field for the movie.
Forrest’s shrimp boat, which he named “Jenny” after the love of his life belonged to a local Beaufort shrimper named Jimmy Stanley.
There are also several other local Lowcountry spots just outside of Beaufort that made big appearances in the film.
The Stoney Creek Independent Presbyterian Church in McPhersonville was used as the church in the film.
The practice football field where the University of Alabama football team was practicing when Forrest’s speed was first noticed was actually Wade Hampton High School in Varnville and the town that young Forrest and his momma lived in was the town of Varnville.
Jenny’s house was off of Twickenham Plantation Road in Yemassee, but has been torn down since filming.
The house and the famous tree are both located in Yemassee. The house was built for the movie and was torn down after production, but the tree is still there and its actual whereabouts are relatively unknown to most and, from what we understand, the property owner prefers to keep it that way. Here is a photo of the tree today, taken recently. We’re not willing to tell you how we got it.
Beaufort is very proud of its movie heritage, and rightfully so. When describing Beaufort, it’s said that lots of folks can say to outsiders, “did you see the movie Forrest Gump…it was filmed in the town I live in.”
Forrest Gump is Beaufort.
It’s pretty awesome to watch a movie and see some of your favorite spots in your favorite town. It really does make you feel right at home.
