Skip to main content

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.

Content Type
Dorchester | South Carolina Public Radio Dunovant, John | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades

  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • Higher Education
Dunovant, John | South Carolina Public Radio
“D” is for Dunovant, John [1825-1864]. Soldier. Dunovant, a sergeant in the Palmetto Regiment, served with distinction in the Mexican War. He later was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army. He...
Columbia College | South Carolina Public Radio Charleston Renaissance | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades

  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • Higher Education
Charleston Renaissance | South Carolina Public Radio
“C” is for Charleston Renaissance [ca. 1915-1940]. The Charleston Renaissance was a multifaceted cultural renewal. Artists, musicians, writers, historians, and preservationists—individually and in...
Lords Proprietors of Carolina | South Carolina Public Radio Lott, Robert Bretley | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades

  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
Lott, Robert Bretley | South Carolina Public Radio
“L” is for Lott, Robert Bretley [b. 1958]. Author, educator. A native of California, Lott received his MFA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Though reared in California, he considers...
 Blair, Frank | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades

  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • Higher Education
Blair, Frank | South Carolina Public Radio
“B” is for Blair, Frank [1915-1995]. Broadcaster, author. A native of Yemassee, Blair served in the Navy during World War II. A deep-voiced broadcaster, a mainstay of NBC’s “The Today Show” from 1952...
Columbia College | South Carolina Public Radio Charleston Riot | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades

  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • Higher Education
Charleston Riot | South Carolina Public Radio
“C” is for the Charleston Riot [1876]. As the crucial local, state, and national elections of 1876 approached, tensions between the races in South Carolina reached a boiling point. In Charleston black...
James B. Edwards | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
James B. Edwards | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 7
James B. Edwards was a dentist before he was elected as the first post-Reconstruction Republican Governor of South Carolina in 1974 (see Inauguration Of James B. Edwards). At the end of his term as...
Roper Hospital | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
Roper Hospital | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 3
Roper Hospital, named after a Charlestonian who willed extensive real estate to the Medical Society of South Carolina (see The Medical College Of South Carolina) for the establishment of a hospital...
The Citadel in 1904 | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
The Citadel in 1904 | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 23
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...