“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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“W” is for Wilson, Robert [1867-1946]. Physician, educator. Wilson graduated from South Carolina College and obtained his medical degree from the Medical College of the State of South Carolina. After...
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“D” is for Dunovant, John [1825-1864]. Soldier. Dunovant, a sergeant in the Palmetto Regiment, served with distinction in the Mexican War. He later was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army. He...
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"C" is for Carson, Jane Caroline Petigru.
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“P” is for Pinckney, Maria Henrietta [d. 1836]. Writer. The eldest daughter of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Sarah Middleton, Maria Pinckney is notable for writing a defense of nullification...
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“C” is for Charleston Renaissance [ca. 1915-1940]. The Charleston Renaissance was a multifaceted cultural renewal. Artists, musicians, writers, historians, and preservationists—individually and in...
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“P” is for Pinckney, Josephine Lyons Scott [1895-1957]. Poet, novelist, civic leader. Pinckney played a key role in the literary revival that swept through the South after World War I. She was one of...
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“L” is for Lott, Robert Bretley [b. 1958]. Author, educator. A native of California, Lott received his MFA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Though reared in California, he considers...
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“H” is for Historic Charleston Foundation [HCF]. The Historic Charleston Foundation sprang from the activities of the Carolina Art Association. In 1944, the association published This is Charleston, a...
