Charleston

“Charleston County and the city of Charleston, its county seat, are the most historic locations in the state.”

“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.

Richard Fields | SC African American History Calendar
Episode 4

Video

Judge Richard E. Fields was born and raised in Charleston, S.C. He attended high school at the Avery Institute, graduated from West Virginia State College in 1944, and earned his law degree in 1947...
The Planter at the Gate, Part 4
Episode 4

Video

President Lincoln blockades Southern ports. The Union takes Port Royal Sound. The coastal planters flee leaving tens of thousands of enslaved people free.
The Planter at the Gate, Part 1
Episode 1

Video

An inland planter from Edgefield fears the loss of his way of life as a plantation master. In due time, Thomas Lamar will stand directly in the Union Army’s path to Charleston.
Anne Worsham Richardson
Episode 101

Video

Anne Worsham Richardson discusses growing up in Turbeville, South Carolina. Richardson always showed a love for animals, even from an early age. Richardson got her start by doing drawings of domestic...
Anne Worsham Richardson
Episode 102

Video

Anne Worsham Richardson talks about her art education and training. Host Jim Welch gives viewers an opportunity to observe Richardson as she creates a new work, and what the process behind making a...
Anne Worsham Richardson
Episode 103

Video

Anne Worsham Richardson’s husband runs the administrative side of her art business. He briefly discusses what running the family business is like, along with some of his job duties. Anne Richardson...
The Hirsch Armory Panels | SC National Guard

Video

In an unlikely blending of art and utilitarian architecture in the 1950s, Charleston-born and world-renowned sculptor, Willard Hirsch, was commissioned by the South Carolina National Guard to create a...