“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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Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886) was the wife of James Chesnut Jr., and a famous Civil War diarist. Born near Camden, she attended private schools; at Madame Talvande's School in Charleston she first...
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Henriette Charlotte Chastaigner (1700-1754) was the daughter of one of the Huguenot families of Charleston. She married Nathaniel Broughton of Mulberry, a plantation on the Cooper River in Berkeley...
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Although males, young and old, comprised the great majority of pirates, some women seeking the same adventure and plunder disguised themselves as males and also signed aboard pirate vessels. Anne...
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Born in Charleston in 1879, Governor James Byrnes (1879-1972) attended local schools. Because of his father's death, Byrnes had to begin working early in life to help support his mother. He worked as...
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Born in Ireland, Pierce Butler (1744-1822) arrived in America as an officer in the British Army stationed in Boston. However, he resigned prior to the Revolutionary War and moved to Charleston where...
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Aedenus Burke (1743-1802) served South Carolina as an anti-federalist legislator and a judge, one who was associated with the interests of the Backcountry in spite of his connections and residence in...
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William Henry Brown (1808-1883), born in Charleston, was an unusual South Carolina artist, known for his portrait silhouettes. This is a self-portrait, illustrating a form of likeness that was popular...
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Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1818-1893) was a native of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. He became superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in January, 1861, but resigned that...
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William Watts Ball (1868-1952) was the long-time editor of the Charleston "News and Courier." Born in Laurens County, he grew up during Reconstruction, and, according to legend, held Wade Hampton's...
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A naturalist and Lutheran minister, John Bachman (1790-1874) was born in Rhenebeck, New York. He came to South Carolina in 1815 when he was appointed to St. John's Lutheran Church in Charleston, and...
