The Citadel in 1904. Its name is derived from the institution's origin in a fortress built to protect Charleston from slave uprisings. In the 1820s, after the Denmark Vesey plot of 1822, Charlestonians converted some tobacco inspection buildings on Marion Square into a guardhouse. The Arsenal in Columbia (which gave its name to Arsenal Hill and is now the Governor's mansion) served a similar purpose. In 1842, the General Assembly reasoned that youths could serve as guards while receiving military and practical training, and could replace the garrison that had been stationed at the Citadel and the Arsenal. In 1861, the two schools were combined to become the South Carolina Military Academy, located in Charleston.
Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
