“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 city of Charleston in 1742 was a bustling port town of 6,800, the fourth largest city in British North America. Half of its population were African-American slaves. They were the labor on which...
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Blackbeard (Edward Thatch, Teach, or Tench) was one of the best known of the pirates whose activities expanded in the period 1716-1718 when the end of the war against Spain threw great numbers of...
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The Pirate Stede Bonnet is one of the more colorful characters in South Carolina history. In the early 18th century there was sometimes very little difference between legal piracy--the licensing of...
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The Palmetto Guard flag, flown over Fort Moultrie during the War of 1812. Courtesy of the Fort Sumter National Monument.
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The coast of South Carolina has fascinated artists and visitors from the beginning. Xanthus Smith (1839-1928) served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, and participated in the blockade of...
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In this segment, cannons are discussed and more history. The Q & A portion continues.
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The transformation of Fort Sumter is discussed, contrasting its condition in 1863 and now. The Fort that can be seen now is only about 10 percent of what it consisted of then. Fort Moultrie's history...
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The story of the three forts that have defended our coast, from the time of our settlers through the World War II, is told in the episode of Project Discovery. At the beginning of the American...
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The story of the three forts continues with this segment on Fort Johnson and Fort Sumter.
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Q & A on the three forts being featured in this episode of Project Discovery. .
