Month: December 2018

Storied Streets

This old picture along Broad Street is a section of the city that we walk on my tour, and many of the buildings in the photo are still there. Visitors enjoy having intricate historic details pointed out in Charleston’s famous architecture. Notice the eagle in the triangular pediment of the corner building. It was built as a United States Bank in 1817, and the eagle, carved from oak and gilded with gold leaf, was the symbol of the bank. That building is still a bank today, and the eagle is still there. Sadly though, the building with the attractive portico on the other corner was razed in 1910 to make way for Charleston’s first skyscraper, the 8-story, 121-foot People’s Bank Building, an eyesore along the historic street still today. What is also interesting is, from the look of this 1865 picture, it seems that the surface of Broad Street is dirt. Yet, in fact, just breath the soil surface were rows of cobblestones, which in the old days were pounded down into the soil for drainage, and often did not seem to be there in images. <img.src=”Charleston Streets” alt=”Historic View of Broad Street”

Landscape

Agitated Apparition

We walk past the Thomas Rose House on Church Street each day on my Charleston Footprints Walking Tour, and I tell the story about the man who supposedly haunts it with his ghost. He was doctor who had moved to Charleston from New England after the American Revolution, and was living in a room there when the building was a boarding house, and was known for whistling as he walked the streets. He was involved in a duel in October, 1786, in which he was mortally wounded and carried back to the house where he died of infection weeks later, and legend says his whistling can still be heard. The copy on the plaque outside the house was taken from a 1950’s newspaper article in which the writer incorrectly wrote the doctor’s name as Joseph Ladd Brown, when in fact, his name was Joseph Brown Ladd, and perhaps Dr. Ladd is still whistling to get someone’s attention to change the wording on the plaque. Tourists hear quite a few ghost stories in the streets of Charleston, and this one is perhaps the most intriguing. <img.src=”Charleston Ghosts” alt=”The Whistling Doctor”

Colbert’s Cold Beer

People often ask me on the walking tour about notable people who live in Charleston. We walk past 37 East Bay Street on the tours, and there I explain about the friend of my younger brother who used to come over to our house all the time, who we referred to as Stephen Colbert, pronounced Colburt. The Colberts lived at this residence for many years, and I went to several parties there, and I tell the group on my tour that Colbert, pronounced Colbare, is just Stephen’s stage name, and that the rest of the family goes with the Colburt pronunciation, and that the only “Cold Beer” I experienced at the house was in the coolers of ice on the porches during the parties. <img.src=”Charleston Curiosities” alt=”Colbert House”

Welcoming Waterfront

One of the most commonly used photographs of historic Charleston is the row of houses along the High Battery. This group of grand residences has stood majestically through years of hurricanes and an entire Civil War, and is one of the places we pass each day on my walking tour. The line of 11 huge houses, collectively known as Battery Row, range in age from 1818 to 1920, and eight are pre-Civl War. They embody the elegance of Charleston as well as its larger-than-life architectural styles, and to stand on the sidewalk next to one of these buildings is an awesome experience.

Memorable Museum

The South Carolina Historical Society has recently restored the famous Fireproof Building on Washington Square, and opened a museum to the public. The historic 1820’s building was designed by Charleston architect Robert Mills to be completely fireproof, constructed only of stone, brick, iron and glass. I point out details about the Fireproof Building each day on my walking tour, and I recommend the museum as a niche interest for those who are interested in historic manuscripts and architecture.

Evening Elegance

Historic #Charleston is a great city to explore at night. It is very safe in most parts of the old city, and the visual charm is often enhanced by interesting lighting schemes. Natural gas lines underground allow many downtown residents to burn flickering lamps that help create the feeling that pedestrians wandering old streets and alleys have been transported back in time to the days when gas lamps were the only source of illumination. Many historic church steeples are lit from below, giving a mesmerizing glow to spires and towers above, while soft garden lights offer enchanting silhouettes of exquisite wrought iron gates. It is one of the best ways to enjoy Charleston for free, and a pleasant excursion after an evening’s dinner. The South of Broad area and The French Quarter are my favorites, but there are also very enjoyable nocturnal views in Ansonbourough and around Marion Square. I highly recommend that visitors to Charleston take an evening walk in the oldest parts of the historic city, and enjoy the wonderful scenic area without the traffic or crowds. <img.src=”Charleston At Night” alt=”Lighting Historic Areas”

Interesting Iron

This impressive array of Civil War cannon stands outside Fort Moultrie on historic #Sullivan’s Island. The campaign in and around the Charleston area was largely dictated by firepower, and huge guns mounted on land fortifications or carried in ships. The North had a tremendous advantage with iron-making industries, and a far greater number of cannon. The South produced some cannon, but many guns used by the Confederates such as those in this picture were captured from Federal arsenals that fell into Southern hands. The Civil War saw the creation of the first “rifled” cannon, equipped with grooves inside the barrels to fire aerodynamic shells instead of cannonballs to make attacks more accurate. Another new technique for that era was the concept of “banding” cannon, by heating large wrought iron bands and placing them on the breech of the gun, where the calling metal contracted to form an extra layer of strength so that larger charges of gunpowder could be used without exploding the barrel. One of the guns in this row is a former Federal smooth-bore that was restructured by the Eason and Sons Foundry in Charleston during the war, as rifling grooves were cut inside the barrel, and iron bands added to the breech, to make it a stronger and more accurate weapon. <img.src=”Charleston Military History” alt=”Civl War Cannon”

Illuminated Illusion

In December 1901, #Charleston held its own version of the World’s Fair with the Interstate and West Indian Exposition. The event was held on the old Washington Race courses grounds near the Ashley River, and was to hoped to generate interest in the Southeastern and West Indian trade and drag Charleston out of its post-Civil War economic hardships. The 250-acre tract was adorned with a hastily-built “Ivory City”, consisting of large cheaply-made wooden buildings that were painted white and gave the appearance of great palaces. Tracks were laid for a trolley that would take customers to various exhibits inside the palaces, as well as canals, pedestrian bridges and statues. The bright light of the exposition was exactly that, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb, which was strung by the tens of thousands on structures like the 50,000 square foot Cotton Palace in the picture, to enhance the enjoyment and scope of the fair. Yet with all its exhibits, and an impressive midway that featured camels, elephants and oddities from around the world, the exposition was a colossal financial failure because of lack of attendance. Among the visitors besides Edison was President Theodore Roosevelt, as well as Mark Twain, who famously quipped, “no one was there”.  Within a few years, all the palaces had been pulled down. Today, part of the expo location is Hampton Park, where the only reminder of the great Ivory City is the sunken garden lake that stood in front of the Cotton Palace. Hampton Park is more than a mile from the place I begin my tour, but it is worth a drive or Uber to wander the garden there and visit The Citadel next door.<img.src=”Charleston History” alt=”Interstate and West Indian Exposition”