Of the 50 richest cities in South Carolina, the largest is Charleston, which has 63,760 households. The Charleston metropolitan area is your home. Charles Town was fortified according to a plan developed in 1704 under Governor Nathaniel Johnson. Both Spain and France contested British claims to the region.
Several Native American gangs and independent pirates also assaulted it. When the city was founded, the main items of trade were pine and pitch wood for ships and tobacco. The primitive economy developed around the deer fur trade, in which colonists used alliances with Cherokee and Creek peoples to secure raw materials. Between the War of Independence and the Civil War, Charleston experienced an economic boom, at least for the higher strata of society.
The expansion of cotton as a cash crop in the South generated enormous wealth for a small segment of society and financed impressive architecture and culture. However, it also increased the economic importance of enslaving people and caused increasing restrictions for black Charlestonians. In 1840, the market and sheds, where meat and fresh produce were brought daily, became a center of commercial activity. The slave trade also relied on the port of Charleston, where ships could be unloaded and bought and sold to enslaved people.
The legal importation of enslaved Africans ended in 1808, although smuggling was important. However, domestic trade was booming. More than a million enslaved people were transported from the High South to the Deep South in the years before the war, when cotton plantations were widely developed in what became known as the Black Belt. Many enslaved people were transported by the slave trade down the coast, and slave ships called at ports such as Charleston.
Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the South Carolina General Assembly voted on December 20, 1860 to declare secession from the United States, becoming the first state to do so. The military garrison at Castle Pinckney surrendered to the state militia. On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets opened fire on the USS Star of the West as it entered Charleston Harbor. The 1919 Charleston race riot took place on the night of Saturday, May 10, between members of the United States Navy and the black population.
local. They attacked black people, businesses and homes, killing six people and injuring dozens. The 1969 Charleston hospital strike, in which most black workers protested against discrimination and low wages, was one of the last major events in the civil rights movement. Ralph Abernathy, Coretta Scott King, Andrew Young and other prominent figures marched with the local leader, Mary Moultrie.
He was elected mayor in the 1970s and helped promote several cultural aspects of the city. The city itself consists of six distinct districts. The climate of downtown Charleston is milder than that of the airport due to the greater maritime influence. This is especially true in winter, as the average January low in the city center is 43.6 °F (6 °C), while the airport reaches 38.9 °F (4 °C), for example.
The oldest Catholic parish in the city, St. The Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church is the mother church of Catholicism in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. In 1820, Charleston was established as the seat city of the Diocese of Charleston, which at the time comprised the Carolinas and Georgia and currently encompasses the state of South Carolina. The culture of Charleston combines the traditional culture of the American South.
The center of the peninsula has several venues for art, music, local cuisine and fashion. The Spoleto USA Festival, held annually in late spring, was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart for the Festival dei Due Mondi (the Festival of Two Worlds) in Spoleto, Italy. Other notable sports venues in Charleston include Johnson Hagood Stadium (home of The Citadel Bulldogs soccer team), the McAlister Field House (home of The Citadel Bulldogs basketball team), and the Toronto Dominion Bank Arena at the College of Charleston, which seats 5,100 people who watch the school's basketball and volleyball teams. A number of books and movies have been set in Charleston; some of the best-known works are listed below.
In addition, Charleston is a popular film and television filming location, both in its own right and as a substitute for historic Southern settings. Charleston has a strong government of mayors and councils, with the mayor acting as the principal administrator and executive director of the municipality. The mayor also chairs the meetings of the city council and has the right to vote, as do the other members of the council. The current mayor, since 2024, is Republican William S.
The council has 12 members, each of whom is elected from single-member districts. Emergency medical services (EMS) for the city are provided by Charleston County Emergency Medical Services (CCEMS) and Berkeley County Emergency Medical Services (BCEMS). The city has EMS and 911 services from Charleston and Berkeley counties, since the city is part of both counties. Following the closure of the Charleston Naval Base and Naval Shipyard in 1996, Detyens, Inc.
is one of the largest commercial marine repair facilities on the East Coast, with three dry docks, a floating dock and six piers. The projects include military, commercial and cruise ships. As you may know, the city of Charleston, like Panama City, is a historic port city that shares a proud and prosperous history. Our stories are very similar, as reflected by our citizens of native, European, African and Caribbean descent, our cuisine, our architecture, and our mutual and modern growth in maritime commerce. Panama City is enjoying increased global interest, as is Charleston, which is ranked as one of the top destinations for travelers, commerce, technology, education, culture and fashion.
Charleston, South Carolina, is a city with a rich and diverse history that spans more than 300 years. From its founding in 1670 as Charles Towne, named after King Charles II of England, to its current status as a cultural and tourist destination, Charleston has played an important role in American history. Of the 50 richest cities in South Carolina, the largest is Charleston, which has 63,760 homes. The Gullah community has had an enormous influence on Charleston music, especially with regard to the early development of jazz music.
One thing that stands out about Charleston, although it's not a huge city, is that it has a large population of young, single, educated people starting an up-and-coming career. After being a majority minority city for most of its history, at the end of the 20th century, many whites began to return to the urban core of Charleston, and the area became gentrified due to rising prices and rents. Read on to find out what is the richest city in South Carolina, in addition to the 50 richest cities in the state overall. In a northwesterly direction, it connects the city to North Charleston, Charleston International Airport, I-95 and Columbia.
I-26 begins in downtown Charleston, with exits to the Seventh Clark Highway, Arthur Ravenel Jr. Located southeast of Charleston, the largely private island has more than 1,000 homes in total, surpassing the number of homes in most of the state's wealthiest cities, according to Forbes. Charleston's public institutions of higher education include the College of Charleston, The Citadel, South Carolina Military College, and South Carolina Medical University. Despite being a small and largely private island, Kiawah Island has more than 1,000 homes in total, more than most of the wealthiest cities in South Carolina.