After my last post I will point out now that Charleston is not just about the USS Yorktown. In fact Charleston is an amazing city with much to see especially in regards to the history of the entire USA. A few posts back we posted of our wonderful visit to St Augustine’s and the historic features there dating back to the 1500’s. Well Charleston too has a rich history however it accentuates it’s connections around the 1770’s onwards and the important part it had to play in the American Constitution. Much of the architecture in the CBD dates back that far which is amazing when as Australians we remember that Captain Cook sailed into Botany Bay at this exact same time.
I have started this gallery with our visit to the craft markets in Charleston City. These are a series of 4 (or 5) buildings in line. You enter through the doorway in photo 1 and continue through each building. These markets apparently expand onto nearby streets during the night market period. When you step outside and look down the street you can see the spire of St Michael’s Church, one of many historic churches there. More pics of St Michael’s a bit further on but before we got to it we came across the “Circular Congregational Church” of the United Church of Christ which dates back to the 1680’s. (Though the church building dates from 1890.) As you can see this structure is fascinating in it’s design and construction. Added to the history of the church are many gravestones which we ambled through. The dates on many of these headstones is incredible. One interesting one (pictured) had a skull and crossbones on it and was dated 1769. We moved on through drizzling rain on foot which was not how everyone sees Charleston. Some choose too take a horse and buggy ride around the city.
In any case we moved on to St Michael’s and managed to chat with a church volunteer who was happy to tell us of his church and some of its features. Like all churches of the day the church grounds was where most parishioners were buried and here in St Michaels lay the graves of two of the people who were co-signatories to the US Constitution. From memory 3 of 4 from South Carolina are buried in this city. As you can see by the photos of many buildings this is a pretty city and it is good that this is being conserved. The photo before the Pineapple fountain is the old Slave Market, now a museum. Part of Charleston’s history was of pirates, slavery, plantations and politics. The next 3 pictures are typical structures but it is the 3rd of these that was of most interest to us. The old Exchange and Provost building is immensely steeped in Charleston’s past glory. From Stores to rebel prisoners to pirates to the US Constitution and the American Independence movement. The Provost was in it all. For me one of the most interesting articles (I have only put one picture here) was the actual waistcoat worn by General William Moultrie in 1785 when elected Governor of South Carolina.
Finally we found another landmark in the ‘pastel houses’. About 6 or 7 period homes all painted in different pastel shades which unfortunately don’t show up too well in the photos. With that we headed back to the car when again we made another magical discovery, the oldest continuous liquor shop in the USA. Having taken the obligatory photo Shane and I returned to our car and headed back to our van satisfied we’d seen at least some of what Charleston had to offer.
Watch for the next blog post about Charlotte. A very modern looking city in North Carolina.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane