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Charleston County, South Carolina

Charleston County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

 

County Seat: Charleston
Year Organized: 1769
Square Miles: 917		 Court House:

2 Courthouse Square
County Courthouse
Charleston, SC 29401-2204
Etymology - Origin of County Name

Charleston County and the city of Charleston, its county seat, are the most historic locations in the state. English settlers arrived in the colony of Carolina in 1670 and established a town at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River. The settlement, named Charles Town in honor of King Charles II of England, was subsequently moved a few miles away to a peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Charles Town (renamed Charleston in 1783) was the political, social, and economic center of South Carolina throughout the colonial and antebellum periods, and it served as the state capital until 1790.

 

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Charleston County and the city of Charleston, its county seat, are the most historic locations in the state. English settlers arrived in the colony of Carolina in 1670 and established a town at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River. The settlement, named Charles Town in honor of King Charles II of England, was subsequently moved a few miles away to a peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Charles Town (renamed Charleston in 1783) was the political, social, and economic center of South Carolina throughout the colonial and antebellum periods, and it served as the state capital until 1790. Charleston District was formed in 1769, but portions were later split off to form Colleton (1800) and Berkeley (1882) counties. Present day Charleston County includes the old parishes of St. Philip, St. Michael, Christ Church, St. Andrew, St. John Colleton, and part of St. James Santee. English and French Huguenot settlers and their African slaves built indigo, rice, and cotton plantations along the area's rivers and on its sea islands, while merchants of many nationalities made Charleston one of the busiest ports on the Atlantic. During the Revolutionary War the American forces defeated the attacking British fleet at Charleston in June 1776; a palmetto log fort (later named Fort Moultrie) on Sullivans Island withstood the British cannon balls, and the palmetto tree was subsequently given a prominent place on the South Carolina flag. At another Charleston fort, Fort Sumter, federal troops were fired on by Confederate forces in April 1861, signaling the start of the Civil War. Charleston County has had many famous residents, including three signers of the United States Constitution: Charles Pinckney (1757-1824), Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825), and John Rutledge (1739-1800). Other residents include architect Robert Mills (1781-1855), writers DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) and Archibald Rutledge (1883-1973), slave leader Denmark Vesey (1767-1822), abolitionists Sarah Grimke (1792-1873) and Angelina Grimke (1805-1879) , scientist Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941), and civil rights leader Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,358 square miles (3,517 kmē), of which, 919 square miles (2,379 kmē) of it is land and 440 square miles (1,139 kmē) of it (32.37%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:
  • Berkeley County, South Carolina - north
  • Georgetown County, South Carolina - northeast
  • Colleton County, South Carolina - west
  • Dorchester County, South Carolina - northwest
Cities and Towns:
- Awendaw town Incorporated Area
- Charleston (County Seat) city Incorporated Area
- Folly Beach city Incorporated Area
- Hanahan city Incorporated Area
- Hollywood town Incorporated Area
- Isle of Palms city Incorporated Area
- Kiawah Island town Incorporated Area
- McClellanville town Incorporated Area
- Meggett town Incorporated Area
- Mount Pleasant town Incorporated Area
- North Charleston city Incorporated Area
- Ravenel town Incorporated Area
- Rockville town Incorporated Area
- Seabrook Island town Incorporated Area
- Sullivan's Island town Incorporated Area
County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here
 

  

 

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."
 

 

 

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