“Charleston County and the city of Charleston, its county seat, are the most historic locations in the state.” Situated in the Lowcountry, the county serves as a popular vacation destination but also relies on the business that results from its port. The area in general serves as a large cultural and economic hub for the state.
Charleston County was founded as Charleston District in 1769, and the district became smaller after some of its lands were used to create Colleton and Berkeley counties. The county and its seat were named after King Charles II.
The city and county are saturated with Revolutionary War and Civil War history. Three signers of the United States Constitution and two famous abolitionists resided in Charleston County, and the Civil War began when soldiers fired shots from the county’s Fort Sumter.
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The John Rutledge House, 116 Broad Street, Charleston, is a fine example of a "Charleston double house." The centered front gable, dentil molding, and triangular pediment door are both distinctive in...
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This row of cabins provided housing for slaves on the McLeod Plantation in Charleston County. The photograph was taken in the 1930s. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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Summerville vicinity, December 1938. This home of a Native American family, built with a mud chimney, was documented by the Farm Security Administration photographer Marion Post. Courtesy of the...
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City and municipal government is an important part of South Carolina's governing structure. This is an interior view of the second floor council chamber in Charleston's City Hall in the 1930s...
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The Charleston Police Department, 1911. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
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The Jail and Marine Hospital in Charleston. From "Ballou's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion," 1857. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
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The Charleston Museum, one of the oldest in the nation, had its beginnings as a collection of scientific specimens by the Charleston Library Society in 1778. By 1843, the collection had been...
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“C” is for the Charleston Orphan House. In 1790, the Charleston City Council established the Charleston Orphan House, the first public orphanage in America. At the turn of the 19th century, a...
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“C” is for Charleston Poorhouse and Hospital. In 1768, the Commons House of Assembly authorized the building of a Poorhouse and Hospital to care for Charleston’s growing population of paupers...
