“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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Nakia Wigfall is a seventh generation Gullah basket maker from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Wigfall travels to Sierra Leone with a mission to make sweetgrass baskets with the other local residents...
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In the city of Kabala, in Sierra Leone, residents speak their native tongue, as well as a Creole language called "Krio," which is similar in many ways to the Gullah language spoken by the Gullah...
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Freetown was founded by formerly enslaved people, many of them from South Carolina and Georgia. Their first attempt to establish an African colony in 1787 failed, but in 1792, more than a thousand...
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With the ending of the civil war in Sierra Leone, the next generation looks to the future with hopes of rebuilding their country, and getting educations. These inspiring young Sierra Leoneans are also...
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From 1617 to the abolishment of the English slave trade in 1807, Bunce Island was the last glimpse of home for tens of thousands of enslaved Africans. Today, only ruins remain, as a testament to the...
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Rice is a staple food of Sierra Leone. Rice is not only a favorite dish of Sierra Leoneans and the Gullah-Geechee, but it is also a part of their history. A dike system for cultivating rice worked...
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Butler, Nic. "The Story of Carolina Day." Charleston County Public Library. https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/story-carolina-day. Accessed 25 September 2020. Edgar, Walter. South Carolina...
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This photo gallery contains the following: The original Moultrie Flag - The precursor to the S.C. State Flag. Map of Fort Sullivan as it appeared on June 28, 1776 Map of Charleston Harbor during the...
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Are you a South Carolinian looking for another reason to fire up the grill and celebrate in the month of June? This episode of History in a Nutshell explores the S.C. centric holiday known as...
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Dr. Roy I. Jones is a lifelong educator who has served in South Carolina institutions for nearly 40 years. Jones is the Executive Director of the Call Me MiSTER program and Provost Distinguished...
