In Charleston survive buildings that were erected during the Proprietary Government, many buildings that were erected during the Royal Government. Survive scars of wars and storms and fires that raged in the long ago. Survive street names that were bestowed when Charles Town was in its swaddling clothes. It is a far cry from old Charles Town, bounded on the south by Vanderhorst Creek (Water Street); on the west by earthworks and a moat (Meeting Street); on the north by earthworks (Cumberland Street), and on the east by the Cooper River. King, Queen and Princess Streets are reminiscent of the Royal Régime. St. Philip’s, St. Michael’s, St. Andrew’s, Berkeley, and St. James, Goose Creek, were of the Church of England, under the Bishop of London, albeit the present St. Philip’s was erected half a century after the Revolution, replacing the Proprietary building that was burned in 1835.
But this work is concerned, not with the history of Charleston, but with Landmarks of Charleston, and in the pages that follow are tales of prominent landmarks, places and buildings that are storied. Eminent Carolinian names pass in review. The greatness of the lustrous past is linked with the more convenient present. The Charles Town that was and the Charleston that is are brought before the reader. The author’s effort is to present the facts accurately.
Outstanding landmarks include Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the Old Exchange Building, the Powder Magazine, the Rhett and Trott Houses for their antiquity, the Miles Brewton House as enemy headquarters in the Revolution and the War for Southern Independence.
Fort Sumter from the Air
An Incomparable Stroll
Would you, guest within the gates of Charleston, see things reminiscent of old Charles Town rubbing elbows with things of modern Charleston? Take this stroll, a little more than a mile, and you will be abundantly compensated.
Begin at the Mosque of Omar Temple of the Mystic Shrine, on the site of the Granville Bastion, southeastern edge of Charles Town in 1680. Proceed, southward, along East (or High) Battery, washed by the Cooper River. You behold the harbor declared by Admiral Dickins capable of accommodating the fleets of the world at one time. Seaward you see gallant Fort Sumter. To its left, Sullivan’s Island, on which is Fort Moultrie of Revolutionary fame; to its right, by the Quarantine Station, Charles Town’s first fort, Johnson, named for a Proprietary Governor. On the west side are some of Charleston’s most desirable residences. You reach South Battery.
Here you see the monument to the brave Confederate defenders of Fort Sumter, to face that famous fortress. Continue on the promenade which has inspired extravagant phrases. In the park you see the capstan from the battleship Maine, blown up in Havana harbor in February, 1898; monuments to the defenders of Fort Moultrie in 1776, and to William Gilmore Simms, novelist, historian, editor. Across the park, at the foot of Church Street, you see the home of Colonel William Washington, Virginian, who achieved a lustrous record as a Revolutionary officer in South Carolina; across Church Street is the Villa Margharita, built as the home of Andrew Simonds, banker. At the foot of Meeting Street, you see a memorial fountain to the gallant Confederates of the first submarine.
Stay on the promenade and enjoy the sight of stately palmettos bordering a beautiful park in which majestic oaks are many. At the foot of King Street, you come to the Fort Sumter Hotel. This building includes the site of the landing stage used by Queen Victoria’s daughter, the Princess Louise, in 1883; first member of the English royal family to visit the capital of the former English colony and province. Go north in King Street. At No. 27 is the celebrated Miles Brewton House, used by the British as headquarters in the Revolution and by the Union commanders in the War for Southern Independence. Note the picturesque old coach house.