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King Street, Charleston, South Carolina Printed by E. C. Kroop [1940] ––

10 Interesting facts about the Historic Charleston District

Charleston district is one of the oldest, largest, and wealthiest cities found in the U.S. State of South  Carolina.  It is a port city on the eastern seaboard of the U.S

Charleston was founded in the 1670s as Charles town. It was named Charles town’  honoring King Charles II.

Charleston is important in America. It’s tied to American history as a major slaving trading port. Joseph Wragg was among the Charleston slave traders. He was the first to break through the monopoly of the Royal African Company.

Charleston is known for its strong tourism industry. Travel and Leisure ranked Charleston as the best city in the world

1. It was the first to establish  a museum in America 

Charleston Museum photo by ProfReader –ikimedia commons- 

Charleston Museum was founded in 1773. It was America’s first museum. Charleston Museum is located in the Wragg borough neighborhood in Charleston. The museum displayed artifacts,  and exhibits of natural history and also showcased two historic houses in Charleston town.

• Joseph Manigault House was one of Charleston’s most exquisite structures. It was built in 1803 and reflected the urban lifestyle of wealth.
• Heyward-Washington house was owned by the founding Father Thomas Heyward. Jr. was a revolutionary patriot and signer of the declaration of Independence. It was best known for lodging  President George Washington during his 1792 visit to Charleston.

The Museum maintains The Dill Sanctuary which is located on James Island.  The island contains the Habitats for wildlife and cultural features including the three confederate batteries and prehistoric,  colonial, antebellum, and postbellum archeological sites.

The Dill Sanctuary was protected for preservation, wildlife, enhancement, research, and education and used only for Museum sponsored programs.

2. Charleston district has symbolism for hospitality 

Pineapple is the symbol of hospitality in Charleston. It came from South America as a way of the Caribbean. Placing pineapple at the entrance of the home indicated a sign of hospitality. Traditionally captains placed the pineapples outside their door showing that they safely arrived.

3. Charleston has a rainbow row

Rainbow Row Charleston photo by Melizabethi ––

Charleston has a series of 13 colorful historic houses. The houses have mainly located the North of Tradd St. and South of Elliott on the East Bay street. It is a popular tourist attraction and the most photographed part of Charleston.

4. Charleston was known as The Holy city 

Citadel Square Baptist Church, Charleston. Photo by W. LeMay-

One the cities in Charleston was known as a holy city because of the plethora of churches and places of worship that were built. The Anglican church was the dominant church during the colonial era in Charleston. The Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the Southern United States.

Southern Carolina allowed Jews to practice their faith without any restrictions. Sephardic Jews from London were founded by Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in 1749. It was the 4tholdest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was an important site for the development of Reforming Judaism.

Saint Mary of the Annunciation Roman Catholic church is the oldest Roman Catholic Â鶹APPh. It is the mother church of Roman Catholicism in North, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Holy sanctuaries in Charleston,  have enabled the town to survive natural calamities. They include epidemics, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and world war I and world war II.

5. Charleston embraced Gullah culture

Gullah culture has the linguistic and cultural heritage of local sea island inhabitants from Africa.  Charleston was strongly connected to African culture. The city port used to receive more enslaved Africans from the port as compared to other ports in the united states.

6. Charleston had Boon Hall plantation and Garden

It was founded in 1681 by an Englishman John Boone who came to Charleston. He established a plantation and gracious home on the banks of wampacheone creek. It was a large plantation that used slave labor in cultivating rice. Rice became the first crop that was produced on the Boone plantation.

Other plantations that are found in North Charleston include

• Camp plantation that has covered around 1000acres.
• Archdale Hall plantation was located on the Ashley River. Its primary crop included indigo and rice. It was the longest- family-owned plantation in South Carolina.
• Ellms plantation was founded by Ralph Izard. Its main crop was rice. It has covered 4,350 acres. Charleston University is located on the sides parts of the origin of plantation lands.
• Oak Grove Plantation has covered 960acres along the Cooper River.
• Windsor Hill plantation was established in 1701. It was an inland rice plantation that covered 1,348 acres

7. Charleston was the first to establish a theatre in America

Riviera Theatre, Charleston. Photo by MichaelWikimedia common

Charleston District was the first home of a theatre in America known as Dock or Broad street theatre in the country. It was the first building that was built. Theatre was purposely dictated to the artistic performances that cherished the life of artists. It was succeeded by the New Charleston Theatre(1837-1861).

8. It was  the first to establish a golf club and also a baseball team

The Carolina golf club was the first to be established in Charleston. It was founded in 1786  by a  group of merchants. The golf was known as ‘feathery’.  It was created from pieces of bull hide that were stitched together with chicken feathers.

Charleston was the first to establish the baseball team which was Sea Gulls.  It was established in 1886. The team name was changed to Charleston river dogs.

9. Charleston has a pineapple fountain

The pineapple fountain was founded in 1990. It was a focal point of Charleston waterfront park. The fountain was designed by Mark Dawson, Stu Dawson, and  Jay Faber including all of the design firm Sasaki. The fountain is managed and owned by the city of Charleston.

The park is approximately one-half mile from the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina. The park received the 2007 Landmark Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

10 Charleston’s city market 

 Charleston city market is the most visited site of attraction.it is one of the oldest markets in the city. it was established in 1790. the market sells locally made products