Moon Coastal Carolinas

by Jim Morekis

  The influential Gibbes Art School in the early 20th century formed a close association with the Woodstock School in New York, bringing important ties and prestige to the fledgling institution. Georgia O’Keeffe, who taught college for a time in Columbia, South Carolina, brought an exhibit here in 1955. The first solo show by an African American artist came here in 1974 with an exhibit of the work of William H. Johnson.

  The New Charleston Green

  Most people know “Charleston green” as a unique local color, the result of adding a few drops of yellow to post-Civil War surplus black paint. But these days the phrase might refer to all the environmentally friendly development in Charleston, which you might find surprising considering the city’s location in one of the most conservative states in the country’s most conservative region.

  The most obvious example is the ambitious Navy Yard redevelopment, seeking to repurpose that facility for a new age. From its inception in 1902 at the command of President Theodore Roosevelt through the end of the Cold War, the Charleston Navy Yard was one of the city’s largest employers. When it was closed in 1995 as part of a national base realignment plan, locals feared the worst, but the old base now hosts the conservation center for the salvaged CSS Hunley. The largest Navy Yard development is still to come.

  Also in North Charleston, local retail chain Half Moon Outfitters has a green-friendly warehouse facility in an old grocery store. The first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified building in South Carolina, the warehouse features solar panels, rainwater reservoirs, and locally harvested or salvaged interiors. There’s also the LEED-certified North Charleston Elementary School as well as North Charleston’s adoption of a “dark skies” ordinance to cut down on light pollution. On the peninsula, the historic meeting house of the Circular Congregational Church has a green addition with geothermal heating and cooling, rainwater cisterns, and Charleston’s first vegetative roof.

  East of the Cooper River, in addition to walking the historic byways of the Old Village of Mount Pleasant, architecture and design buffs might also want to check out the 243-acre I’On (www.ionvillage.com) “neotraditional” planned community, a successful model for this type of pedestrian-friendly New Urbanist development. On adjacent Daniel Island, the island’s 4,000-acre planned residential community has been certified as an “Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” for using wildlife-friendly techniques on its golf course and recreational grounds. Even ultra-upscale Kiawah Island has gone green in something other than golf—the fabled Kiawah bobcats are making a comeback, thanks to the efforts of the Kiawah Conservancy.

  For many Charlestonians, however, the green movement manifests in simpler things: the pedestrian and bike lanes on the new Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River, the thriving city recycling program, or the Sustainable Seafood Initiative, a partnership of local restaurants, universities, and conservation groups that brings the freshest, most environmentally responsible dishes to your table when you dine out in Charleston.

  Don’t miss the nice little garden and its centerpiece, the 1972 fountain and sculpture of Persephone by Marshall Fredericks.

  Unitarian Church

  In a town filled with cool old church cemeteries, the coolest belongs to the Unitarian Church (4 Archdale St., 843/723-4617, www.charlestonuu.org, services Sun. 11am, free tours Sat. 10am-1pm). As a nod to the beauty and power of nature, vegetation and shrubbery in the cemetery have been allowed to take their natural course (walkways excepted). Virginia creeper wraps around 200-year-old grave markers, honeybees feed on wildflowers, and tree roots threaten to engulf entire headstones. The whole effect is oddly relaxing, making it one of my favorite places in Charleston.

  The church itself—the second-oldest such edifice in Charleston and the oldest Unitarian sanctuary in the South—is pretty nice too. Begun in 1776 because of overcrowding at the Circular Congregational Church, the brand-new building saw rough usage by British troops during the Revolution. In 1787 the church was repaired, though it was not officially chartered as a Unitarian church until 1839. An extensive modernization happened in 1852. The church was spared in the fire of 1861, which destroyed the old Circular Church but stopped at the Unitarian Church’s property line. Sadly, it was not so lucky during the 1886 earthquake, which toppled the original tower. The version you see today is a subsequent and less grand design.

  Directly next door is St. John’s Lutheran Church (5 Clifford St., 843/723-2426, www.stjohnscharleston.org, worship Sun. 8:30am and 11am), which had its origin in 1742 when Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg stopped in town for a couple of days on his way to minister to the burgeoning Salzburger colony in Ebenezer, Georgia. He would later be known as the father of the Lutheran Church in America. To see the sanctuary at times other than Sunday mornings, stop by the office next door Monday-Friday 9am-2pm and they’ll let you take a walk through the interior.

  Old City Market

  Part kitschy tourist trap, part glimpse into the old South, part community gathering place, Old City Market (Meeting St. and Market St., 843/973-7236, daily 6am-11:30pm) remains Charleston’s most reliable, if perhaps least flashy, attraction. It is certainly the practical center of the city’s tourist trade, not least because so many tours originate nearby.

  the restored interior of the old City Market

  Originally built on Daniel’s Creek—claimed from the marsh in the early 1800s after the city’s first marketplace at Broad and Meeting Streets burned in 1796—one of City Market’s early features was a colony of vultures who hung around the many butcher stalls. Sensing that the carrion eaters would keep the area cleaner than any human could, officials not only allowed the buzzards to hang around, they were protected by law, becoming known as “Charleston eagles” in tongue-in-cheek local jargon.

  No matter what anyone tries to tell you, Charleston’s City Market never hosted a single slave auction. Indeed, when the Pinckney family donated this land to the city for a “Publick Market,” one stipulation was that no slaves were ever to be sold here—or else the property would immediately revert to the family’s descendants.

  A recent multimillion-dollar renovation has prettified the bulk of City Market into more of a big-city air-conditioned pedestrian shopping mall. It’s not as shabbily charming as it once was, but certainly offers a more comfortable stroll during the warmer months.

  Confederate Museum

  Located on the 2nd floor of City Market’s iconic main building, Market Hall on Meeting Street, the small but spirited Confederate Museum (188 Meeting St., 843/723-1541, Tues.-Sat. 11am-3:30pm, $5 adults, $3 children, cash only) hosts an interesting collection of Civil War memorabilia, with an emphasis on the military side, and is also the local headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Perhaps its best contribution, however, is its research library.

  William Rhett House

  The oldest standing residence in Charleston is the circa-1713 William Rhett House (54 Hasell St.), which once belonged to the colonel who captured the pirate Stede Bonnet. It’s now a private residence, but you can admire this excellent prototypical example of a Charleston single house easily from the street and read the nearby historical marker.

  St. Mary of the Annunciation Church

  The oldest Roman Catholic church in the Carolinas and Georgia, St. Mary of the Annunciation (89 Hasell St., 843/722-7696, www.catholic-doc.org/saintmarys, mass Sun. 9:30am) traces its roots to 1789, when the Irish priest Father Matthew Ryan was sent to begin the first Catholic parish in the colony. The original church was destroyed in the great Charleston fire of 1838, and the present sanctuary dates from immediately thereafter. While it did receive a direct hit from a Union shell during the siege of Charleston in the Civil War—taking out the organ—the handsome Greek Revival edifice has survived in fine form the 1886 earthquake, the great hurricane of 1893, and 1989’s Hurricane Hugo. You can tour the interior most weekdays 9:30am-3:30pm.

  Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Reform Temple

  The birthplace of
Reform Judaism in the United States and the oldest continuously active synagogue in the nation is Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Reform Temple (90 Hasell St., 843/723-1090, www.kkbe.org, services Sat. 11am, tours Mon.-Fri. 10am-noon, Sun. 10am-4pm). The congregation—Kahal Kadosh means “holy community” in Hebrew—was founded in 1749, with the current temple dating from 1840 and built in the Greek Revival style so popular at the time. The temple’s Reform roots came about indirectly because of the great fire of 1838. In rebuilding, some congregants wanted to introduce musical instruments into the temple—previously a no-no—in the form of an organ. The Orthodox contingent lost the debate, and so the new building became the first home of Reform Judaism in the country, a fitting testament to Charleston’s longstanding ecumenical spirit of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. Technically speaking, because all Reform temples in Europe were destroyed during the Holocaust, this is actually the oldest existing Reform synagogue in the world.

  Old City Jail

  If you made a movie called Dracula Meets the Lord of the Rings, the Old City Jail (18 Anson St., 843/577-5245) might make a great set. Built in 1802 on a lot set aside for public use since 1680, the edifice was the indeed the Charleston County lockup until 1939. It was once even more imposing, but the top story and a large octagonal tower fell victim to the 1886 earthquake.

  Its history is also the stuff from which movies are made. Some of the last pirates were jailed here in 1822 while awaiting hanging, as was slave rebellion leader Denmark Vesey. (As a response to the aborted Vesey uprising, Charleston for a while required that all black sailors in port be detained at the jail.) During the Civil War, prisoners of both armies were held here at various times.

  The Old City Jail currently houses the American College of the Building Arts. Unless you’re a student there, the only way to tour the Old Jail is through Bulldog Tours (18 Anson St., 843/722-8687, www.bulldogtours.com). Their Haunted Jail Tour ($20 adults, $10 children) starts daily at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm; all tours are paid for at 40 North Market Street a short walking distance away, with jail tours starting at the jail itself.

  UPPER KING AREA

  For many visitors, the area around King Street north of Calhoun Street is the most happening area of Charleston, and not only because its proximity to the visitors center makes it the first part of town many see up close. On some days—Saturdays when the Farmers Market is open, for instance—this bustling, active area of town seems a galaxy away from the quiet grace of the older South of Broad area. Its closeness to the beautiful College of Charleston campus means there’s never a shortage of young people around to patronize the area’s restaurants and bars and to add a youthful feel. And its closeness to the city’s main shopping district, King Street, means there’s never a shortage of happy shoppers toting bags of newly purchased merchandise.

  Marion Square

  While The Citadel moved lock, stock, and barrel almost a century ago, the college’s old home, the South Carolina State Arsenal, still overlooks 6.5-acre Marion Square (between King St. and Meeting St. at Calhoun St., 843/965-4104, daily dawn-dusk), a reminder of the former glory days when this was the institute’s parade ground, the “Citadel Green” (the old Citadel is now a hotel). Seemingly refusing to give up on tradition—or perhaps just attracted by the many female College of Charleston students—uniformed cadets from The Citadel are still chockablock in Marion Square on any given weekend, a bit of local flavor that reminds you that you’re definitely in Charleston.

  the weekly Farmers Market at Marion Square

  Marion Square is named for the “Swamp Fox” himself, Revolutionary War hero and father of modern guerrilla warfare Francis Marion, for whom the hotel at the square’s southwest corner is also named. The square’s newest feature is the Holocaust Memorial on Calhoun Street. However, the dominant monument is the towering memorial to John C. Calhoun. Its 1858 cornerstone includes one of the more interesting time capsules you’ll encounter: $100 in Continental money, a lock of John Calhoun’s hair, and a cannonball from the Fort Moultrie battle.

  Marion Square hosts many events, including the Farmers Market every Saturday April-mid-December, the Food and Wine Festival, and, of course, some Spoleto events.

  College of Charleston

  The oldest college in South Carolina and the first municipal college in the country, the College of Charleston (66 George St., 843/805-5507, www.cofc.edu) boasts a fair share of history in addition to the way its 12,000-plus students bring a modern, youthful touch to so much of the city’s public activities. Its services are no longer free, and despite its moniker the college is now a full-blown, state-supported university.

  the fountain on the quad at the College of Charleston

  Though the college has its share of modernistic buildings, a stroll around the gorgeous campus will uncover some historic gems. The oldest building on campus, the Bishop Robert Smith House, dates from the year of the college’s founding, 1770, and is now the president’s house; find it on Glebe Street between Wentworth and George. The large Greek Revival building dominating the college’s old quad off George and St. Philip’s Streets is the magnificent Randolph Hall (1828), the oldest functioning college classroom in the country and now host to the president’s office. The huge circular feature directly in front of it is “The Cistern,” a historic reservoir that’s a popular place for students to sit in the grass and enjoy the sun filtering through the live oaks. The Cistern is also where then-candidate Barack Obama spoke at a rally in January 2008. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can download a neat self-guided tour, complete with video, from the Apple iTunes App Store (www.apple.com, search “College of Charleston Tour,” free).

  Movies that have had scenes shot on campus include Cold Mountain, The Patriot, and The Notebook.

  The college’s main claims to academic fame are its outstanding Art History and Marine Biology departments and its performing arts program. The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (54 St. Philip St., 843/953-5680, www.halsey.cofc.edu, Mon.-Sat. 11am-4pm, free) focuses on modern visual art and also offers film screenings and lectures. The groundbreaking Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture (843/953-7609, www.cofc.edu/avery, Mon.-Fri. 10am-5pm, Sat. noon-5pm, free) features rotating exhibits from its permanent archive collection.

  Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

  Frequently known around town simply as “Mother Emanuel,” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (110 Calhoun St., www.emanuelamechurch.org, Sunday services 9:30 a.m.) has a distinguished history as one of the South’s oldest African American congregations. The church came under heavy scrutiny prior to the Civil War when one of its founders, Denmark Vesey, was implicated in planning a slave uprising. The existing edifice was burned as retaliation for Vesey’s involvement (and the founding of The Citadel as a military academy nearby was directly related to white unrest over the plot). In the wake of the Nat Turner revolt in 1834, open worship by African Americans was outlawed in Charleston and went underground until after the Civil War. The congregation adopted the “Emanuel” name with the building of a new church in 1872, a wooden structure which unfortunately didn’t survive the great earthquake of 1886. The simple, elegant, and deceptively large church you see today dates from 1891, and has hosted luminaries such as Booker T. Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King. In 2015, the church was the site of the horrific murders of nine worshippers—including its pastor, Clementa Pinckney—by a racist gunman. At Pinckney’s memorial service, President Barack Obama spoke and led the congregation in singing “Amazing Grace.”

  Charleston Museum

  During its long history, the Charleston Museum (360 Meeting St., 843/722-2996, www.charlestonmuseum.org, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 1pm-5pm, $10 adults, $5 children, combo tickets to Heyward-Washington and Manigault Houses available) has moved literally all over town. It’s currently housed in a noticeably modern building, but make no mistake: This is the nation’s oldest museum, founded in 1773. It strives
to stay as fresh and relevant as any new museum, with a rotating schedule of special exhibits in addition to its very eclectic permanent collection.

  For a long time this was the only place to get a glimpse of the CSS Hunley, albeit just a fanciful replica in front of the main entrance. (Now you can see the real thing at its conservation site in North Charleston, and it’s even smaller than the replica would indicate.)

  Much of the Charleston Museum’s collection focuses on aspects of everyday life of Charlestonians, from the aristocracy to slaves, including items such as utensils, clothing, and furniture. There are quirks as well, such as the Egyptian mummy and the fine lady’s fan made out of turkey feathers. A particular and possibly surprising specialty includes work and research by noted regional naturalists like John James Audubon, André Michaux, and Mark Catesby. Numerous exhibits chronicle the local history of Native Americans and African Americans.

  The location is particularly convenient, being close not only to the excellent Charleston Visitors Center and its equally excellent parking garage but also to the Joseph Manigault House (which the museum runs), the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, and the Gibbes Museum of Art.

  Joseph Manigault House