– Tourists visiting historic #Charleston enjoy sightseeing and visiting scenic places as well as hearing stories of unusual events. The building pictured was built as Chareston’s first bank in the 1790’s. Before then, wealth was stored in homes, and credit was issued through private brokers. The new building instantly attracted the attention of robbers, and in 1802, a man named Withers began to tunnel from a drain across the street to get to the vaults in the bank basement. Apparently he was able to work for weeks without being detected, and dug a small tunnel all the way under the street. Eventually, the build up of moved clay and sand became noticeable, and Withers was arrested. He became known as the “ground mole” of Charleston. There are so many stories like these that I enjoy telling to guests taking my walking tours.
I often tell guests on my walking tours of Charleston that there is quite a bit of history in the symbols displayed in some of our historic buildings. Our state and city seals are overloaded with Latin and Greek terms and symbols that were so popular in the late 1700’s when they were created. The state seal has the motto “Dum Spiro Spero”, meaning “while I breathe, I hope” and “Animis Opibusque Parati”, “prepared in mind and resources”. The original version featured the Roman goddess of Hope, Spes, holding a scepter of authority topped by the Phrygian cap symbolizing the French revolution and fight for liberty, while holding a laurel wreath symbolic of triumph. Beside her is a Revolutionary soldier, and above them Epheme, Greek goddess of proclamation. A later version has Spes holding a flower, symbolic of the birth of a nation, with a new dawn rising. Instead of the soldier, there is the palmetto tree standing on oak logs, symbolic of the victory on Sullivan’s Island over the British fleet when palmetto logs proved to be the difference, and the dates March 26th, the day we declared independence from England, and July 4th, the birth of our nation. The Latin “Quis Separabit” means “who separates” and “Meliorem Lapsa Locavit” means “better let free”. The state seal we have today incorporates both versions. The Charleston seal, according to the city website, features “a female figure” overlooking the town, to which I say, come on city, grab a mitt and get in the game! If mythical figures were used in the state seal, certainly the same would apply to the city. I strongly believe the woman is Athena, Greek goddess and protector of wisdom, culture, architecture, civilization, and law, and who is depicted historically holding an authoritative scepter as she does in the seal, with the Latin “Aedes Mores Juraque Curat”, meaning “she guards buildings, customs and laws”. The first city seal showed “Corpus Politicum”, meaning “body politic”, and there were several versions of the city seal over the years, evolving in what we have today with the Latin term “Civitatis Regimine Donata”, meaning “given to the rule of the citizens”, and “Carolopolis”, a combination of the Latin “Carolus”, meaning Charles and the Greek “Polis”, meaning town, above Condita A.D. 1670, which is “established year of our Lord 1670”, as well as the symbols of the lamp, books, quill and parchment, indicating culture and civilization, as well as the palm fronds, and ancient symbol of triumph, peace, and eternal life. Great irony, considering all the symbols of freedom, is that when we declared independence from England and were initially a sovereign state, all power was briefly given to John Rutledge, who was nicknamed “dictator” of South Carolina.
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS – One of the aspects that Charlestonians often take for granted, but is greatly appreciated by tourists who visit, is the sound of bells. A number of churches in the Charleston area have bells in their towers and steeples, but in only four – St. Michael’s, Grace, Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, and Stella Maris – are the bells rung by hand. It’s an old English custom called Change Ringing, meaning that the sequence of bell musical notes are changed by variations in order, and with eight bells such as St. Michael’s, there can be up to 5,000 differing scales. Bells are made of brass, sometimes mixed with copper and iron, and are cast in foundries from the top down on molds. Larger “tenor” bells can weigh tons, as does the biggest at St. Michael’s at 1900 pounds(which, in bell tradition has a saintly name “St. Michael”), while smaller “treble” bells still weigh in a hundreds of pounds. They are tuned to specific notes by saving metal inside the flanged rim, or “sound bow”, and the eight in St. Michael’s offer an octave ranging from A-flat to G-7. The massive bells are hoisted into place by experts such as England’s Whitechapel Foundry, and hung on rockers that can be swung nearly 360 degrees by means of attached ropes that lead to a room below where ringers synchronize pulls. The term peal of bells is derived from “appeal”, as traditionally bells before services were rung to draw congregants, while for more solemn calls to funerals, they are rung “half-muffled” with a leather cover silencing every other stroke of the clapper. I have taken a turn at change-ringing, and it is much harder than it looks, with the weight of the swinging bell on backstrokes easily powerful enough to yank you into the ceiling.
Lots of people who make a trip to visit historic Charleston are interested in seeing Civil War sites. We do have harbor forts that are very popular, but one fascinating structure that most don’t know about is the old District Jail on Magazine Street. Built back in the early 1800’s to resemble a towering castle, the imposing structure has a long history of suffering prisoners. In 1864, in the last stages of the Civil War when Confederate prison camps were being threatened by invading northern troops, hundreds of Federal prisoners were sent by train to Charleston and kept at the old district jail. There were so many that there wasn’t room for them in the structure, and many camped in tents outside.
Many tourists visiting Charleston are fascinated by the city’s extensive maritime history, and some of the best things to do is some kind of boat trip in Charleston harbor. From 1740 to 1773, there were more than 300 ships built in local shipyards, most of them 20 tons or less. The most popular designs were schooners and sloops, whose “fore and aft” rigging was more practical than square-rigged to allow more maneuverability along the coast and in rivers. There were some larger brigantines built that combines fore-and aft with square rigging, and numerous plantation barges that carried goods to remote coastal areas. The age of steam ships and railroads in the 1800’s essentially brought local shipbuilding to an end, but there is one place where you can still find some of these colonial vessels, but you’ll need scuba gear – along the Cooper River Underwater Heritage Trail, where a number of small ships and boats are marked with plaques on the bottom where they eventually came to rest. By the way, the most complete and best illustrated study of shipping in Charleston is Priestley Coker’s “Charleston’s Maritime Heritage – 1670-1865”.
I wanted to devote this post to the captivating color found throughout Charleston in its architecture, gardens, wildlife, and landscapes. Aesthetic beauty has both an inspiring and a calming effect, and the opportunity to immerse ourselves in this picturesque palette perhaps explains the traditional unhurried nature of Charlestonians, compelling so many to visit and embrace the abundance on display each day, while inspiring one of our own known for visual portrayals of the city to say long ago, “The slower measure which we tread has brought many to visit us who have run the race too rapidly.” Visitors can find this on every street and every blocks of the historic city, as wonderful courtyards and gardens show you the hue that has made us such a destination.
The streetcar on rails was a common sight in Charleston years ago. The first streetcar company opened in 1861, but things didn’t get rolling until 18 miles of track was laid in larger streets by 1866, and passengers could climb aboard vehicles that were pulled by horse or the occasional mule. A number of groups got in the act, such as the Charleston & Seashore Railroad company that carried passengers from ferry landings in Mount Pleasant to Sullivan’s Island, and the stops along the way gave the island the “station” names it still has today. The term trolley wasn’t used until cars were electrified in 1897, but were better known to Charlestonians as “iron donkeys”. They were propelled by current from overhead wires that the car could attach to with a boom, and there were many instances of startled horse carts from the snapping sparks on the wires. In 1910, the new Charleston Consolidated Railway and Lighting Company extended lines for picnics at Magnolia Cemetery, any by 1910 there were 40 miles of trolley tracks, which on wider streets such as Broad and Meeting, there were two sets going in either direction, and at the end of the line, a turning loop to swing around. Each car typically had a brakeman, who controlled speed and stops, and a conductor who took tickets, which in 1910 cost 7 cents.
The 1803 Joseph Manigault House was converted into an Esso station in 1922, and a fill up got you a free tour of the historic garden. The gas station closed by World War II, and the historic house served as a USO dance hall for service people in the area. I was saved by demolition by being bought by the Charleston Museum and converted into a museum house, where today touring visitors can enjoy its remarkable Federal-style architecture.
The first World War II prisoners brought to Charleston were German submariners who were captured by the Coast Guard cutter Icarus in 1942, and a year later the West Ashley stockade was opened for Italian and German army prisoners, who were more than likely happy to have square meals instead of round bullets. The Axis prisoners had a near celebrity status, as Charlestoniains would drive past the camp on highway 61 to see them. And with farm hands off fighting in the war, the prisoners were loaned to local famers and marched into fields to harvest crops. One group of Germans was harvesting tomatoes for the first time in 1944 when a farmer gave them a midday break and brought out cases of Coca-Cola. The prisoners loved it, and the next week harvesting on another farm, were eagerly awaiting Coca-Colas at midday, but this particular farmer just kept them working to the point the Germans refused to go back to work unless they got the cokes. Although the war ended in 1945, farmers were reluctant to give up their cheap labor, and Axis prisoners were still in Charleston as late as 1946 before being shipped home.
I thought I would be frank about the Eastern Gray Squirrel, and here’s Frank as an example. He’s actually a rodent in the Sciuridae family, related to the groundhog, and the name squirrel comes from a combination of Latin terms meaning “shadow tail”. The tail of this critter that visitors often see throughout the year walking in scenic, historic Charleston is both a cover, a decoy, and a warning signal of imminent danger. Squirrels make a variety of sounds, ranging from a purring that means contentment, to a short clucking bark that is meant to locate other squirrels, to a high-pitched squeal meant to warn that predators are lurking. Squirrels build nests where their young are born, and they are polygamous with any number of mates, and can live as many as 20 years, foraging for seeds and nuts that they cleverly hide in ground cavities that they are able to relocate months later. Most of all they are great climbers, and can hang upside down from lofty tree limbs for extended periods of time, holding on with one paw while digging through a nut. Charleston also has the larger fox squirrel, which can be found mostly in more remote areas. <img.src=”Charleston Wild Life” alt=”Eastern Gray Squirrel”
