Charleston, South Carolina Architectural and Historical Icons

Charleston is the most populous city within South Carolina. The town is located just south of the geographical midpoint of the state's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean.

The English founded Charleston during 1670 as Charles Town, named in honor of King Charles II. The original settlement was located ten years later to its present location. During the Colonial era, a royal governor and legislature with administrative districts and social services provided by Anglican parishes governed the city. The state capital relocated to Columbia in 1788, but Charleston remained one of the largest east coast American cities in population through 1840.

Charleston declared its independence from Britain in 1774 and repelled three major armed attacks before being overcome during 1780. The British Army occupied the city until the conclusion of the war the following year. The city bears the notable strain of being formerly the largest primary entry point for enslaved Africans. Nearly half of the slaves imported to the United States arrived in Charleston. During the Civil War, the state joined the Confederate States Army and the Union army blockade shut down most commercial trade. The contemporary economy is anchored by tourism, port and logistics, aerospace, and information technology.

The city's architecture remains diverse and a reminder of the waves of history that have passed through. Historical design styles include Georgian, Greek Revival, Plantation Style, Romanesque Revival, Neo-Classical, Federal, Anglo-Palladian, Second Empire, Tudor Gothic Revival, Italianate, Beaux-Arts, Queen Anne, Colonial, and Craftsman Revival. This edition highlights most of the noteworthy constructions and responsible creators:

Commercial and Public Architectural Attractions:

American Theatre, Avery Research Center, Central Fire Station, Charleston Club House, Charleston Historic Courthouse, Old Charleston Jail, Library Society, Charleston Museum, Historic Citadel, City Market, The Dewberry Hotel, Dock Street Theatre, Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter Hotel, Francis Marion Hotel, Gaillard Center, Gibbes Museum, Hibernian Hall, Husk Restaurant, Poogan's Porch, Masonic Lodge, Mills House Hotel, Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon, Old Slave Mart, Postal Museum, Powder Magazine, Ravenel Bridge, Sottile Theatre, Society Hall, Tavern Liquor, Circuit Court Building, The Battery, Blind Tiger Tavern, Pink House, Grace Piexotto's Brothel, Kress Store, and Customs House

Family Residence Architectural Icons:

Aiken-Rhett, Battery Carriage Inn, Poyas-Mordecai, Dr. David Ramsey, Dubose Heyward, Edmondston-Alston, Fleming-Ross, Hannah McBeth, Heyward-Washington, Captain James Missroon, John Rutledge, Joseph Manigault, Kerrison Family, Christopher Memminger, Nathaniel Russell, Rainbow Row, Samuel Legare, Thomas Bee, William C. McElheran House and Wentworth Mansion

Prominent Churches:

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Circular Congregational, First Baptist, First Scots Presbyterian, French Huguenot, Grace Episcopal, Mother Emanuel AME, New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist, Second Presbyterian, St. John's Lutheran, St. Matthew's Lutheran, St. Michael's, St. Philip's Church and Graveyard, Unitarian and St. Stephen's Episcopal.

Architects and Firms

John Breton, Alexandre Thesee du Chastaigner, Olaf Otto, Thomas Gadsden, Robert Mills, James Hoban, Kerrigan & Grant, Pierce Purcell, Barbot & Seyle, Gabriel Manigault, John and James Gordon, Frederick Wesner, Russell Warren, Edward Brickell White, John Henry Devereux, Ammi Burnham Young, Daniel G. Wayne, Frank Pierce Milburn, C. K. Howell, August Constantine, Frank E. Lucas and Sidney W. Stubbs, John E. Earle, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Robert A. M. Stern, Simons & Lapham and John R. Todd.