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.

Eliza Pinckney | S.C. Hall of Fame

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Short biography of indigo planter and colonial entrepreneur Eliza Lucas Pinckney, another example of the enormous contribution the Pinckney family of South Carolina has made to the history of our...
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin | S.C. Hall of Fame

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Joseph Louis Bernardin was born in 1928 in Columbia, South Carolina, where there were not many Catholics. He was the son of Italian immigrants, with a younger sister Elaine. He was baptized and...
Governor James Burrows Edwards | S.C. Hall of Fame

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James Burrows Edwards was born in Hawthorne, Florida, and was an officer in the U.S. Maritime Service during World War II. Edwards received a bachelor's degree in 1950 at the College of Charleston. He...
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | S.C. Hall of Fame

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5-minute historical visualization of the biography of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney who is an example of the enormous contribution South Carolinians made to the formation of the government of the United...
Elizabeth O'Neill Verner | S.C. Hall of Fame

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Elizabeth O'Neill Verner (1883–1979) was an artist, author and preservationist from Charleston, South Carolina. She was one of the leading figures in the “Charleston Renaissance” movement, which...
Arthur Middleton | S.C. Hall of Fame

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A brief biography of the life of Arthur Middleton, statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Through the use of archival materials, scholar interviews, and historic landmarks and...
Ambrose E. Gonzales | Legacy of Leadership Profile

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1857–1926 Ambrose E. Gonzales was not only an illustrious journalist but a businessman who, against tremendous odds, kept afloat and saw flourish The State newspaper, which he and his brother, N. G...
Hugh C. Lane | Legacy of Leadership Profile

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Hugh C. Lane (1914-2005) For 38 years, Hugh C. Lane was the driving force behind the growth of the Citizens and Southern National Bank of South Carolina, years that spanned the upheaval of the New...