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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.

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Colonel William Rhett | History of SC Slide Collection

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Colonel William Rhett | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 123
Born in England, Colonel William Rhett (1666-1722) came to the Carolina colony in November 1694 as a captain of a merchant ship. In the impoverished Carolina colony, pirates, former seamen who had...
Robert Barnwell Rhett | History of SC Slide Collection

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Robert Barnwell Rhett | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 122
Robert Barnwell Rhett (1800-1876) was born Robert Barnwell Smith in Beaufort, and changed his name legally by act of the South Carolina legislature in 1838. Elected to the state House of...
Alonzo J. Ransier | History of SC Slide Collection

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Alonzo J. Ransier | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 121
Alonzo J. Ransier (1834-1882), born a free African-American in Charleston, was one of two African-American men in South Carolina to achieve the position of lieutenant governor. He held this office...
Dr. David Ramsey | History of SC Slide Collection

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Dr. David Ramsey | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 120
Dr. David Ramsey (1749-1815) was a physician and historian. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Ramsey attended local schools, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), and the College of...
James Reid Pringle | History of SC Slide Collection

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James Reid Pringle | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 119
James Reid Pringle (1782-1840) was President of the South Carolina Senate from 1814-1818, and Collector of the Port of Charleston. During the Nullification Controversy, he was a Unionist. This...
Joel Robert Poinsett | History of SC Slide Collection

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Joel Robert Poinsett | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 118
Joel Robert Poinsett (1779-1851) was the first American Minister to Mexico, serving from 1825-1830. As a result of that assignment, he introduced into the United States the poinsettia, a flower named...
Thomas Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection

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Thomas Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 116
Born in Charleston, the third surviving child of Eliza Lucas and Charles Pinckney, the younger brother of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (see Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, In His 6th Year, and Charles...
Charles Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection

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Charles Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 114
Born in Charleston, Charles Pinckney (1757-1824) studied law under his father, Colonel Charles Pinckney, and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced law. During the Revolutionary War, he was...
Francis W. Pickens | History of SC Slide Collection

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Francis W. Pickens | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 112
Born on his family's plantation on the Tuggaloo River in St. Paul's Parish, Francis W. Pickens (1805-1869) attended Franklin College (now University of Georgia) at Athens, Georgia, and South Carolina...
Andrew Pickens | History of SC Slide Collection

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Andrew Pickens | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 111
Born in Edgefield, Governor Andrew Pickens (1779-1838) studied at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton). During the War of 1812, he served as a colonel in the U.S. Army and in later stages of the...
Sir Peter Parker | History of SC Slide Collection

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Sir Peter Parker | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 108
Sir Peter Parker (1721-1811) was the naval commander who directed the British fleet in the abortive attack against Fort Sullivan in the summer of 1776. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
Osceola | History of SC Slide Collection

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Osceola | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 107
Osceola ( -1838), the celebrated Seminole Chief, died in captivity at Fort Moultrie on January 30th, 1838. Osceola's death marked the end of a long and determined resistance by his people to the...
William Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection

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William Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 104
Born in Charleston, William Moultrie (1730-1805) served in the South Carolina House of Commons, and in 1761, became involved in the Cherokee War. In 1775, he was elected to the first South Carolina...
Dr. John Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection

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Dr. John Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 103
Dr. John Moultrie, a physician, illustrates the sometimes painful divisions within families that civil war and revolution can cause. The older brother of General William Moultrie (see William Moultrie...
Benjamin Mordecai | History of SC Slide Collection

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Benjamin Mordecai | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 101
Benjamin Mordecai, a Jewish merchant in Charleston, made the first and largest contribution to the war-chest of South Carolina, and was thanked by the Secession Convention (still in session) for his...
Arthur Middleton | History of SC Slide Collection

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Arthur Middleton | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 99
Arthur Middleton (1742-1787) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born at Middleton Place on the Ashley River, Middleton was educated in South Carolina and in England at Hackney Academy...
Clelia Peronneau McGowan | History of SC Slide Collection

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Clelia Peronneau McGowan | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 96
Clelia Peronneau McGowan (1865-1956) of Charleston was a pioneer woman suffragist in South Carolina. After the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the right to vote, she became the first woman...
Burnet R. Maybank | History of SC Slide Collection

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Burnet R. Maybank | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 93
Born in Charleston, Governor Burnet R. Maybank (1899-1954) attended local public schools, Porter Military Academy, and the College of Charleston. During WWI, he served as a seaman in the U.S. Navy...
Gabriel Manigault | History of SC Slide Collection

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Gabriel Manigault | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 90
Gabriel Manigault (1758-1809), the grandson of Huguenot immigrants, was a member of one of the richest pre-Revolutionary families in South Carolina. A rice planter, he studied law in London, but...
Charles Izard Manigault | History of SC Slide Collection

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Charles Izard Manigault | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 89
Charles Izard Manigault (1789-1874) was born in Charleston, but grew up in Philadelphia, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. Some planter and merchant families, like the Izards and...
Charles Lowndes | History of SC Slide Collection

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Charles Lowndes | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 88
Charles Lowndes (1719-1763), born on the British West Indian island of St. Kitts, came to Charleston in 1730. Like many other immigrants from the islands, he became a successful planter, settling in...
Joshua Lazarus | History of SC Slide Collection

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Joshua Lazarus | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 84
Joshua Lazarus (1796-1861) was president of the congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston from 1851-1861, and an investor whose efforts helped bring natural gas lighting to Charleston...