Charleston is a city in the county of Charleston with some
incorporated areas located within the boundaries of Berkeley County and Dorchester County in the U.S. state of South Carolina; the city serves as the county seat and largest city of Charleston County. The city proper
consists of five distinct areas: the Peninsula/Downtown, West Ashley, Johns Island, James Island,
Daniel Island, and the Cainhoy Peninsula. The city was founded as Charlestown or
Charles Towne, Carolina in 1670, and moved to its present location in 1680; it
adopted its present name in 1783. In 1690, Charleston was the fifth largest city in North
America[1], and remained among the ten largest
cities in the United States through the 1840 census.[2]
Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly the
numerous steeples which dot the city's skyline.
As of July 2006, the estimated population of the city proper is 107,845,[3] making it the second most populous city in South Carolina behind the state capital Columbia. Current trends put Charleston as the fastest growing central city in South Carolina.
The metropolitan area population of Charleston and North Charleston, which includes the entire populations of Charleston, Berkeley, and
Dorchester counties, was estimated to be 603,178 in 2007.[4] This ranks Charleston-North Charleston as the second largest metropolitan statistical area in the
state behind Columbia. Nearly 80% of the Charleston metro population lives inside the city and its surrounding urbanized area
(2000 pop.: 423,410).
The city of Charleston is located just south of the mid-point of South Carolina's
coastline, at the junction of the Ashley
and Cooper Rivers. Charleston's name is derived from Charles Towne, named
after King Charles II of England.
America's most-published etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, has recognized the city since 1995 as
the "best-mannered" city in the U.S,[5] a claim lent
credibility by the fact that it has the only Livability Court in the country.
History
Early colonization
After Charles II of England (1630-1685) was restored to the British throne following Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, he
granted the chartered Carolina territory to eight of his loyal friends, known as the Lords Proprietor, in 1663. It took seven
years before the Lords could arrange for settlement, the first being that of Charles Town. The community, Kaylie Gallagher, was
established by English settlers in 1670 on the west bank of the Ashley River, a few miles northwest of the present city. It was
soon chosen by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, one of the Lords Proprietor, to become a "great port towne", a destiny which the city
fulfilled. By 1680, the settlement had grown, joined by others from England, Barbados, and Virginia, and relocated to its current peninsular location. The
capital of the Carolina colony, Charleston was the center for further expansion and the southernmost point of English settlement
during the late 1600s.
The settlement was often subject to attack from sea and from land. Periodic assaults from Spain
and France, who still contested England's claims to the region, were combined with resistance
from Native Americans, as well as pirate raids. Charleston's colonists erected a fortification wall around
the small settlement to aid in its defense. Two buildings remain from the Walled City, the Powder Magazine, where the city's
supply of gunpowder was stored, and the Pink House, believed to have been an old colonial tavern.[6]
A 1680 plan for the new settlement, the Grand Modell, laid out "the model of an exact regular town," and the future for the
growing community. Land surrounding the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets was set aside for a Civic Square. Over time it
became known as the Four Corners of the Law, referring to the various arms of governmental and religious law presiding
over the square and the growing city. St. Michael's Episcopal Church's oldest and most noted
church, was built on the southeast corner in 1752. The following year the Capitol of the colony was erected across the square.
Because of its prominent position within the city and its elegant architecture, the building signaled to Charleston's citizens
and visitors its importance within the British colonies. Provincial court met on the ground floor, the Commons House of Assembly
and the Royal Governor's Council Chamber met on the second floor.
Ethnic and religious diversity
While the earliest settlers primarily came from England, colonial Charleston was also home to a mixture of ethnic and
religious groups. In colonial times, Boston, Massachusetts, and Charleston were
sister cities, and people of means spent summers in Boston and winters in Charleston. There was a great deal of trade with Bermuda and the
Caribbean, and some people came to live in Charleston from these areas. French, Scottish, Irish,
and Germans migrated to the developing seacoast town, representing numerous Protestant denominations, as well as Roman Catholicism and
Judaism. Sephardic Jews migrated to the city in such
numbers that Charleston eventually was home to, by the beginning of the 19th Century and until about 1830, the largest and
wealthiest Jewish community in North America[7][8] The Jewish Coming Street Cemetery, first established in 1762, attests to their long-standing presence in the community. The first
Anglican church, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, was built in
1682, although later destroyed by fire and relocated to its current location. Slaves also comprised a major portion of the population, and were active in the city's religious
community. Free black Charlestonians and slaves helped establish the Old Bethel United
Methodist Church in 1797, and the congregation of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church stems from a religious group organized solely by African Americans,
free and slave, in 1791. The first American museum opened to the public on January 12, 1773 in Charleston. From the mid-18th century a large amount of
immigration was taking place in the upcountry of the Carolinas, some of it coming from abroad through Charleston, but also much of it a southward movement
from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, until the
upcountry population was larger than the coastal population. The Upcountry people were viewed by Charlestonians as being not as
polished in many ways, and had different interests, setting the stage for several generations of conflicts between the Upcountry
and the Charleston elite.
Major Atlantic port
By the mid-18th century Charleston had become a bustling trade center, the hub of the Atlantic trade for the southern
colonies, and the wealthiest and largest city south of Philadelphia. By
1770 it was the fourth largest port in the colonies, after only Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with a population of 11,000,
slightly more than half of that slaves. Rice and indigo had
been successfully cultivated by slave-owning planters in the surrounding coastal low-country. Those and naval stores were exported in an extremely profitable shipping industry. It was the cultural and economic
center of the South.
American Revolution
As the relationship between the colonists and England deteriorated, Charleston became a focal point in the ensuing Revolution.
In protest of the Tea Act of 1773, which embodied the concept of
taxation without representation, Charlestonians confiscated
tea and stored it in the Exchange and Custom House. Representatives from all over the colony came to the Exchange in
1774 to elect delegates to the Continental Congress,
the group responsible for drafting the Declaration of
Independence; and South Carolina declared its independence from the crown on the steps of the Exchange. Soon, the church
steeples of Charleston, especially St. Michael's, became targets for British war ships causing rebel forces to paint the steeples
black to blend with the night sky.
It was twice the target of British attacks. At every stage the British strategy assumed a large base of Loyalist supporters
who would rally to the King given some military support. On June 28, 1776 General Henry Clinton with 2,000 men and a naval
squadron tried to seize Charleston, hoping for a simultaneous Loyalist uprising in South Carolina. It seemed a cheap way of
waging the war but it failed as the naval force was defeated by the Continental Army, specifically the 2nd South Carolina Regiment at Fort
Moultrie under the command of William Moultrie. When the fleet fired
cannonballs, the explosives failed to penentrate the fort's unfinished, yet thick palmetto log walls. Additionally, no local
Loyalists attacked the town from behind as the British had hoped. The loyalists were too poorly organized to be effective, but as
late as 1780 senior officials in London, misled by Loyalist exiles, placed their confidence in their rising.
Clinton returned in 1780 with 14,000 soldiers. American General Benjamin Lincoln was
trapped and surrendered his entire 5400 men force after a long fight, the Siege of Charleston was the greatest American defeat of
the war (see Henry Clinton "Commander in Chief" section for more). Several
Americans escaped the carnage, and joined up with several militias, including those of Francis
Marion, the 'Swampfox,' and Andrew Pickens. The tactics of these militias were hit and run. Eventually, Clinton returned
to New York, leaving Charles Cornwallis with 8000 Redcoats
to rally Loyalists, built forts across the state, and demand oaths of allegiance to the King. Many of these forts were taken over
by the outnumbered guerilla militias. At one point, the infamous British cavalry leader, Banastre Tarleton pursued the Swampfox, (Francis Marion). The British
retained control of the city until December 1782. After the British left the city's name was officially changed to Charleston in
1783.
Commerce and Expansion
By 1788, Carolinians were meeting at the Capitol building for the Constitutional Ratification Convention, and while there was
support for the Federal Government, division arose over the location of the new State Capital. A suspicious fire broke out in the
Capitol building during the Convention, after which the delegates removed to the Exchange and decreed Columbia the new State
Capital. By 1792, the Capitol had been rebuilt and became the Charleston County Courthouse. Upon its completion, the city
possessed all the public buildings necessary to be transformed from a colonial capital to the center of the antebellum South. But the grandeur and number of buildings erected in the following century reflect the
optimism, pride, and civic destiny that many Charlestonians felt for their community.
As Charleston grew, so did the community's cultural and social opportunities, especially for the elite merchants and planters.
The first theater building in America was built in Charleston in 1736, but was later replaced by the 19th-century Planter's Hotel
where wealthy planters stayed during Charleston's horse-racing season (now the Dock Street Theatre, known as the oldest active
theatre in the United States). Benevolent societies were formed by several different ethnic groups: the South Carolina Society,
founded by French Huguenots in 1737; the German Friendly Society, founded in 1766; and the
Hibernian Society, founded by Irish immigrants in 1801. The Charleston Library Society was
established in 1748 by some wealthy Charlestonians who wished to keep up with the scientific and philosophical issues of the day.
This group also helped establish the College of Charleston in 1770, the oldest
college in South Carolina and the 13th oldest in the United States.
Charleston became more prosperous in the plantation-dominated economy of the
post-Revolutionary years. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized this crop's production, and it quickly became South Carolina's major export. Cotton plantations
relied heavily on slave labor. Slaves were also the primary labor force within the city, working as domestics, artisans, market
workers or laborers. Many black Charlestonians spoke Gullah, a language based on African
American structures which combined African, French, German, English, and Dutch words. In 1807 the Charleston Market was founded.
It soon became a hub for the African-American community, with many slaves and free people of color staffing stalls.
By 1820 Charleston's population had grown to 23,000, with a black majority. When a massive slave revolt planned by
Denmark Vesey, a free black, was discovered in 1822, such hysteria ensued amidst white
Charlestonians and Carolinians that the activities of free blacks and slaves were severely restricted. Hundreds of blacks, free
and slave, and some white supporters involved in the planned uprising were held in the Old Jail. It also was the impetus for the
construction of a new State Arsenal in Charleston. Recently, research published by historian Michael P. Johnson of Johns Hopkins
University has cast doubt on the veracity of the accounts detailing Vesey's aborted slave revolt.
As Charleston's government, society and industry grew, commercial institutions were established to support the community's
aspirations. The Bank of South Carolina, the second oldest building constructed as a bank in the nation, was established here in
1798. Branches of the First and Second Bank of the United States were also located in Charleston in 1800 and 1817. While the
First Bank was converted to City Hall by 1818, the Second Bank proved to be a vital part of the community as it was the only bank
in the city equipped to handle the international transactions so crucial to the export trade. By 1840, the Market Hall and Sheds,
where fresh meat and produce were brought daily, became the commercial hub of the city. The slave trade also depended on the port
of Charleston, where ships could be unloaded and the slaves sold at markets.
Pre-Civil War Political Changes
In the first half of the 19th century, South Carolinians became more devoted to the idea that state's rights were superior to
the Federal government's authority. Buildings such as the Marine Hospital ignited controversy over the degree in which the
Federal government should be involved in South Carolina's government, society, and commerce. During this period over 90 percent
of Federal funding was generated from import duties, collected by custom houses such as the one in Charleston. In 1832 South
Carolina passed an ordinance of nullification, a procedure in which a state could in
effect repeal a Federal law, directed against the most recent tariff acts. Soon Federal soldiers were dispensed to Charleston's
forts and began to collect tariffs by force. A compromise was reached by which the tariffs would be gradually reduced, but the
underlying argument over state's rights would continue to escalate in the coming decades. Charleston remained one of the busiest
port cities in the country, and the construction of a new, larger United States Custom House began in 1849, but its construction
was interrupted by the events of the Civil War.
Prior to the 1860 election, the National Democratic Convention convened in Charleston. Hibernian Hall served as the
headquarters for the delegates supporting Stephen A. Douglas, who it was hoped would
bridge the gap between the northern and southern delegates on the issue of extending slavery to the territories. The convention
disintegrated when delegates were unable to summon a two-thirds majority for any candidate. This divisiveness resulted in a split
in the Democratic Party, and the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican
candidate.
American Civil War and Reconstruction
-
The ruins of Mills House and nearby buildings, Charleston A shell-damaged carriage and the remains of a brick chimney in the
foreground. 1865.
On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina General Assembly made the state the first to ever secede from the Union. They asserted that one of the causes was the election to the presidency of a man
"whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery", but there are other numerous causes as well.
On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired the first shots of the American
Civil War when they opened fire on the Union ship Star of the West entering
Charleston's harbor. On April 12, 1861, shore batteries under the
command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard opened fire on the Union-held
Fort Sumter in the harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Officers and Cadets from The Citadel were assigned to
various Confederate batteries during the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Although the Citadel continued to operate as an academy
during the Civil War, cadets were made a part of the South Carolina military department along with the cadets from the Arsenal
Academy in Columbia, to form the Battalion of State Cadets. Cadets from both institutions continued to aid the Confederate army
by helping drill recruits, manufacture ammunition, protect arms depots, and guard Union prisoners. In December of 1864 Citadel
and Arsenal Cadets were ordered to join Confederate forces at Tullifinny Creek, South Carolina where they engaged in pitched
battles with advancing units of General W. T. Sherman's army, suffering eight casualties.
Ruins seen from the Circular Church, Charleston, South Carolina, 1865.
In all, The Citadel Corps of Cadets earned eight battle streamers and one service streamer for its service to South Carolina
during the War. The city under siege took control of Fort Sumter, became the center for blockade running, and was the site of the
first successful submarine warfare on February 17, 1864 when
the H.L. Hunley made a daring night attack on the USS Housatonic.[9] In
1865, Union troops moved into the city, and took control of many sites, such as the United
States Arsenal, which the Confederate army had seized at the outbreak of the war. The War department also confiscated the grounds
and buildings of the Citadel Military Academy, which was used as a federal garrison for over 17 years, until its return to the
state and reopening as a military college in 1882. After the eventual and destructive defeat of the Confederacy, Federal forces
remained in Charleston during the city's reconstruction. The war had shattered the prosperity of the antebellum city. Freed
slaves were faced with poverty and discrimination. Industries slowly brought the city and its inhabitants back to a renewed
vitality and growth in population. As the city's commerce improved, Charlestonians also worked to restore their community
institutions.
King Street circa 1910-1920
In 1867 Charleston's first free secondary school for blacks was established, the Avery Institute. General William T. Sherman lent his support to the conversion of the United States Arsenal into the
Porter Military Academy, an educational facility for former soldiers and boys left orphaned or destitute by the war. Porter
Military Academy later joined with Gaud School and is now a K-12 prep school, Porter-Gaud School. The William Enston Homes, a planned community for the city's aged and infirmed, was built in
1889. An elaborate public building, the United States Post Office and Courthouse, was completed in 1896 and signaled renewed life
in the heart of the city.
In 1886 Charleston was nearly destroyed by an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the
Richter Scale that was felt as far away as Boston and Bermuda. It damaged 2,000 buildings and caused $6
million worth of damage ($133 million(2006 USD)) , while in the whole city the
buildings were only valued at approximately $24 million($531 million(2006 USD).
Yet, through many fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, several wars, and urban renewal in the
20th century, many of Charleston's historic buildings remain intact to this day.
Modern-day
Confederate Memorial at Battery Park.
Daughters of the Confederacy Building, near Charleston's downtown open market.
Charleston is a notable tourist destination, with streets lined with grand live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Along the waterfront in an
area known as Rainbow Row are many beautiful and historic pastel-colored homes. The city is
also an important port, boasting the second largest container seaport on the East Coast and the fourth largest container seaport
in North America.[10] It is also the second most productive port in the World behind
Hong Kong. Charleston is becoming a prime location for information technology jobs and
corporations, most notably Blackbaud, Modulant, CSS, and Benefitfocus. In the city's downtown
area, the medical district is experiencing rapid growth of biotechnology and medical
research coupled with substantial expansions of hospital facilities at the Medical University of South Carolina and Roper Hospital.
Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston in 1989, and though the worst damage was in nearby
McClellanville, the storm damaged three-quarters of the homes in Charleston's historic district. The hurricane caused over $2.8
billion in damage.
In 1993, the world's first squadron of the significant C-17 Globemaster III
aircraft was established at Charleston Air Force base.
In 2004, SPAWAR (US Navy Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command) became the largest employer in the Charleston metropolitan area. Until 2004, the Medical University of South Carolina was the largest employer.
Charleston is the home of a Consolidated Mail Outpatient
Pharmacy (CMOP). It is part of an initiative by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mail order prescriptions to
veterans using computerization at strategic locations throughout the United States.
Government
Charleston has a mayor-council government with a strong mayor. The mayor is
the chief administrator and the executive officer of the municipality. The mayor also presides over city council meetings and has a vote, the same as other council members.
Mayor
Council members
- Henry B. Fishburne, Jr.
- Deborah Morinelli (Mayor Pro Tempore)
- James Lewis, Jr.
- Jimmy S. Gallant, III
- Wendell G. Gilliard
- Louis L. Waring
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- Yvonne D. Evans
- Paul Tinkler
- Larry D. Shirley
- Anne Frances Bleecker
- G. Robert George
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Fire department station houses for Engines 2 and 3 of the Charleston Fire Department.
Emergency services
City of Charleston Fire Department
The City of Charleston Fire Department consists of 237
firefighters in 19 companies located throughout the city.[11] The department operates on a 24/48 schedule, and has a Class I ISO rating.[12]
Fire chief
June 2007 Warehouse Tragedy
-
In an unprecedented tragedy for the City of Charleston Fire
Department, 9 firefighters were killed on June 18,
2007 in a furniture warehouse fire, while searching for possible trapped occupants and attempting
to extinguish the blaze.[13] It was the greatest single
loss of firefighters in the United States since 343 firefighters were lost in the
collapse of the World Trade Center which resulted from the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the greatest loss of
firefighters in the history of the Charleston Fire Department. One station lost all but one of its firefighters.
City of Charleston Police Department
The City of Charleston Police Department is South Carolina's
largest Police Department. Their procedures on cracking down on drug use and gang violence in the city are used as models to
other cities to do the same. With a total of 382 sworn officers, 137 civilians and 27 reserve police officers, it is South
Carolina's largest Police Department. According to the final 2005 FBI Crime Reports, Charleston crime level is worse than the
national average in almost every major category.[14]
Police chief
Previous police chief
- Reuben Greenberg — (Resigned August 12, 2005). Greenberg was
credited with creating a polite police force that kept police brutality well in check
even as it developed a visible presence in community policing and a significant reductions in crime rates.[15]
Infrastructure and economy
Transportation
Airport
The Charleston area
is served by Charleston International Airport (IATA: CHS, ICAO: KCHS), which is the busiest passenger airport in the
state of South Carolina.
Interstates and highways
Interstate 26 enters the city from the north-northwest, and connects the city to its airport,
Interstate 95, and Columbia,
South Carolina. It ends at the Septima Clark Expressway downtown, which
travels across two-thirds of the peninsula before merging into the Arthur Ravenel,
Jr. Bridge. The bridge and Septima Clark Expressway are part of U.S. Highway 17,
which travels east-west through the cities of Charleston and
Mount Pleasant. Interstate 526,
or the Mark Clark Expressway, forms a half-circle around the city. U.S. Highway 52 is Meeting Street and its spur is Morrison Drive, which becomes East Bay Street after leaving the
Eastside. This highway merges with King Street in the city's Neck area (Industrial District) to form Rivers Avenue.
U.S. Highway 78 is King Street in the downtown area, eventually merging with Meeting
Street to form Rivers Avenue.
The metropolitan area is served by several other U.S. highways. U.S.
Highway 17A travels through the upper portions of the urban area, going southwest-northeast through the suburban cities of
Summerville and Goose
Creek. U.S. Highway 176 begins in Goose Creek and leaves the city to the
northwest.
The Charleston area is also served by several state highways including:
- SC 7 - Sam Rittenberg Boulevard
- SC 30 - James Island Expressway
- SC 61 - St. Andrews Boulevard/Ashley River Road
- SC 41
- SC 171 - Old Towne Road
- SC 517 - Clyde Moultrie Dangerfield Highway (Isle of Palms
Connector)
- SC 642 - Dorchester Road
- SC 700 - Maybank Highway
- SC 703 - Jasper Boulevard/Palm Boulevard
Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge
The Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge across the Cooper River opened on
July 16, 2005, and is the largest cable-stayed bridge in
the Americas. The bridge links Mount
Pleasant with downtown Charleston, and has eight lanes and a 12-foot lane shared by pedestrians and bicycles. It replaced
the Silas N. Pearman Bridge (built in 1966) and the Grace Memorial Bridge (built in 1929). They were considered two of the most dangerous
bridges in America, and demolished after the Ravenel Bridge opened.
The new Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge, constructed in
2005, is the longest
cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere.
Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority
The city is also served by a bus system, operated by the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA). However
rural parts of the city and metropolitan area are served by a different bus system, operated by
Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Rural Transportation Management Association (BCD-RTMA).
The Port
Columbus Street Terminal viewed from the southwest.
The Port of Charleston consists of five terminals. Three are on the Harbor and the other two are on the Cooper River just
north of Charleston's bustling harbor. The port is ranked number one in North America by Supply Chain Execs.[16] Port activity, behind tourism, is the leading source of Charleston's
revenue.
Piers
- Columbus Street Terminal
- North Charleston Terminal
- Union Pier Terminal
- Veterans Terminal
- Wando Welch Terminal
A new terminal is being planned on the former Naval Shipyard Grounds to accommodate the growing needs of the port.
Major Companies in the Charleston Metropolitan Area
- Amoco Distribution Center
- Blackbaud Corporate center
- Bosch - Plant
- Carolina First Bank - Charleston regional offices
- Sawgrass Technologies - International headquarters
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Geography and climate
Map showing the major rivers of Charleston and the Charleston Harbor watershed.
Coordinates
Charleston is located at 32.78° N 79.93°
W.1
Racial makeup
The racial makeup of Charleston is 65.2% White Americans, 31.6% African Americans, 1.6% Asian Americans, and 2.4%
Latino[1]
Topography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of square kilometers ( sq mi).
km² ( sq mi) of it is land and km² ( sq mi) (15%) of it is water. The old city is located on a
peninsula at the point where, as Charlestonians say, "The Ashley and the Cooper Rivers come
together to form the Atlantic Ocean." The entire peninsula is very low, some of it is landfill material, and as such, it
frequently floods during heavy rains, storm surges and unusually high tides. The city limits have expanded across the
Ashley River from the peninsula encompassing the majority of West Ashley as well as James
Island and some of Johns Island. The city limits also have expanded across the Cooper River encompassing Daniel Island and the Cainhoy area. North Charleston blocks any
expansion up the peninsula, and Mount Pleasant occupies the land directly east of the Cooper River.
The tidal rivers (Wando, Cooper, Stono, and Ashley) are evidence of a submergent
or drowned coastline. In other words, the original rivers had a lower base
line, but as the ocean rose or the land sank, the landform was changed. There is a submerged
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