Today we took a walking tour of the Charleston historic district. We learned about the establishment of Charleston as a walled city, and how it grew by reclaiming swamp land and the ocean. We saw the different eras of architecture, from the colonial styles through to Victorian.
Charleston has its own house style, with porches and verandas (called piazzas) facing the prevailing breeze, and the houses are one room deep to get as much airflow as possible.
The City survived a major earthquake in 1886 that caused a lot of damage, and many hurricanes. They seem pretty used to being flooded as there had been a king tide this morning that flooded the streets around the seawall.
The walking tour was an excellent way to see the city. We went through parks and laneways that we wouldn’t have found if we’d wandered about on our own. We learned a lot of history – Charles Town was settled in 1670, was popular with pirates (including Blackbeard), and was the largest North American point of disembarkation for the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The first shots of the Civil War were fired in Charleston at Fort Sumter in 1861. South Carolina was also the first state to sign the Ordinance of Secession, which was the first step to the secession of the South and began the Civil War. In 2018, the Charleston City Council apologized for its role in the slave trade and condemned its history.
After the walking tour, and in need of a sit-down, we opted
for an early dinner at Eli’s, It was well worth it.
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