The Front Door Project Visits: Charleston, South Carolina

I vacationed in Charleston a couple of weeks back with my husband and daughter (my son was happily visiting Florida with a good buddy) and words cannot express how much I loved this city!! It has been high on my list to visit for quite a while and it did not disappoint. Our first order of business upon arrival was to take a walking tour so that we could see the highlights and acclimate ourselves to the area. There are many different types of tours, but walking seemed to be the best way to explore the nooks and crannies of the city.

Anyone even remotely familiar with Charleston has heard of Rainbow Row, a colorful block of Georgian style row houses on East Bay Street dating to the 1700’s. Being near the harbor, East Bay was a hub of commerce in its early history with shops dominating the bottom floor of these buildings and merchants living up above. The area went through great transformation over the years due to fires, storms and wars, and by the early 1900’s much of it was destroyed, leaving the buildings of present day Rainbow Row as slums. Revitalization began in 1920 when Susan Pringle Frost, founder of the Preservation Society of Charleston, purchased a number of the buildings to rehabilitate. Before she had the funds to do so, another early preservationist Dorothy Haskell Porcher Legge bought three of the homes and started their transformation into the pastel beauties they are today. Susan and others continued the trend, and now Rainbow Row is the most photographed and painted landmark in Charleston. All of the homes are private residences as of now, and while not open to the public they are enjoyed by many every day.

One of my favorite features of Charleston are all of the little alleyways that run between and behind homes all over the city. Many of the alleys have their own street names, including Philadelphia Alley, and it may be the one place in the country where an alley is an enviable address! The gated entrance above is to an old kitchen house which has been converted to a private residence. It’s worth nothing that the little sign with the palmetto tree and crescent moon is a representation of the South Carolina state flag. It’s modern-day design has its roots in the flag flown at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island prior to the start of the Revolutionary War. The palmetto tree is now the state tree due to its role in protecting Fort Moultrie from British cannons, and South Carolina is now referred to as The Palmetto State.

Charleston has a number of nicknames, the most well-known being the Holy City. It earned that name due to the large number of churches and congregations (95 active today according to our tour guide!) peacefully co-existing within Charleston. In fact, Charleston is known as one of the first areas in the country to practice religious tolerance and is still considered a very progressive city today in that way. The above is St. Philips Church, an Episcopal church and a designated National Historic Landmark due to its architecture and history.

Due to its long history, old Charleston is made up of many architectural styles giving the city its unique look and feel. To my surprise, there is a neighborhood called the French Quarter, and its architecture is reminiscent of what I would expect to see in New Orleans. A beautiful example is the Dock Street Theater, which occupies the site of the first theater in the original thirteen colonies. The original theater opened in 1736 but was destroyed by fire, as so many original buildings were. In 1809 the Planters Hotel was eventually constructed (where the delicious Planters Punch originated) with the sandstone columns and wrought iron balconies being added in 1835. The hotel was to be demolished after the Civil War, but instead it was rehabilitated as a theater by depression era workers as a relief project. The craftsmanship inside is stunning, and after a major renovation in 2010 the Dock Street Theater continues to be a hub of theater activity in the city.

No walk in Charleston is complete without a walk down the Battery lined with its gorgeous antebellum mansions (one example in the first photo). At the tip of the Battery is White Point Gardens, also called Battery Park, which was once a key location in Charleston’s defense of the city in the Revolutionary War. The Park has beautiful oaks throughout, offering shade on a hot day, as well as a number of monuments, cannons and other evidence of its military history. There are also tales of pirates being hung from those oaks many years ago to discourage other pirates from entering Charleston Harbor, and legend of buried treasure off the coast. The mansions were built during the time between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and were representative of the wealth generated in the South during the plantation economy. For many these were just summer homes, a respite on the water during the heat and humidity of summer.

While we preferred to walk, carriage tours are also very popular in Charleston. We saw a number of companies with carriages similar to the above, adding to the overall charm of the city as they made their way up and down the narrow streets. It’s a great option, especially when the temperatures rise. While no tour can possibly begin to cover all there is to see and do in Charleston, we loved our tour guide, Anne, a 13th generation Charlestonian who was a fount of information about the history and architecture of the city. Please check out her tour at History of Charleston Walking Tour when you visit, and enjoy Charleston!  It will have you checking the real estate listings before you leave!

Deb Cohen

My name is Deb Cohen, and I am a lifelong resident of Connecticut, a lover of all things historic and New England, and a realtor who helps buyers and sellers achieve their real estate goals and dreams. When I’m not working, I enjoy life with my husband, our two adult children, and our two rescue pups. Renovating and decorating our historic home, dating to 1800, is another favorite pastime.