Historical Charleston

Monday, Nov. 3, 2014

Lake Aire RV Park

Charleston, SC

 Today we decided to explore the historical district of Charleston. This is the Market that some refer to as the old "Slave Market" but in truth it was actually a meat market.  It runs for 3 blocks down the center of Market Street. It is located in the lowest point of Charleston so when it rains, it floods.  During Hurricane Hugo it was underwater to the rafters.

There are many small stalls selling everything from bath salts to Sweet Grass baskets. It reminded us of a high priced flea market.

These beautiful Sweet Grass baskets are all hand made near Charleston.  We saw many roadside stands on highway 17 as we approached Charleston.  We saw one we liked until we turned it over and saw the $325.00 price tag.  We decided to pass on owning one.

What better way to see historical downtown Charleston than in a horse drawn carriage.  There was no shortage of companies lined up along the street willing to sell you a ticket.

We chose Old South Carriage as we had a coupon for $2 off so we hopped aboard and allowed Max to show us the sights of Charleston.  When you board the carriage it is unknown where it will go until the driver picks up a route number.  The city regulates the horse carriage traffic with a lottery system for the routes.  You can take 2 carriage rides and possibly see two different areas.

Downtown Charleston has no tall buildings.  They did not want to distract from all the Church Steeples.  There are 126 churches in the downtown historical district, hence the name "The Holy City".

This is the Powder house where gunpowder was stored in the 1700's.  It is now open as a museum.

In 1947 the Historical Charleston Foundation was established to preserve and protect the architectural style of this area.  You can do whatever you want to the inside but you cannot change the outside.  Owners must even apply to paint their houses and the foundation tells them what color they can use.

Preserving the wrought iron on these buildings it a priority.

The typical house had a front door that led to the porch.  It was understood that you could only enter if the door was open to the porch.  In the days of 40 pounds worth of hoop skirts and men wearing wool clothing, your porch was where you could sit in your underwear to cool off.  

The houses are built with wood siding use Black Cypress as it would not rot or attract termites.  Unfortunately it does not hold paint well so these homes are being painted every 2 years as the paint flakes off.

There was not much room between buildings but 3 stories were as high as they could go.  You will see modern plumbing pipes and electrical additions on the outside of the oldest houses. 

This was one of the mansions of a rice baron.  This street used to sit on the water front and rice would be brought from the plantation to a rice mill located down the river.

Most of the back streets are very pleasant places to wander.

More samples of wrought iron work and houses.

Loved this front porch.

This is a good look at the porch setup with front door.  Each door was very unique.

Old City Jail established in 1772.  Haunted of course.  You can tour it at night with ghost tours.

It was also an insane asylum for a while so there are many spirits still residing there.

Many church steeples and bell towers to be seen.

The area is kept well landscaped and clean.  A wonderful place to stroll the streets.

King street is the shopping mecca with every store you would find in a giant mall. 

Market street headed towards The Market is lined with palmetto palm trees.

Lots of restaurants everywhere you look.  No trouble finding something to eat.

This is Max and our carriage which held 12 people.

After a lovely seafood lunch we headed back to the car to go visit some of the historical homes.  What we found was that the rear view mirror had fallen off the windshield, dangling by the wires.  We decided to head to the nearest Jeep dealer and see if we could get it fixed.  We spent the next 3 1/2 hours sitting in the waiting room.  They did get it fixed and because it took so long they didn't charge us for the repair.  I guess we'll see the historical homes another day.

Becky and Lonnie