In 1663, with a stroke of his pen, King Charles II of England granted a giant slice of North America to his Lords Proprietor. The grant soon grew to take in the entire south of present day United States, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific - and a good chunk of northern Mexico, too. Not an acre of the land was actually his to give away, but such were the ways of the early European settlements in North America.
Nevertheless, the least the colonists could do was name a city after him. And so they did, seven years later, choosing a beautiful site where two rivers formed a peninsula along South Carolina's central coast.
Charles Town, eventually contracted to "Charleston," quickly moved to the forefront of trade, immigration, and wealth in the Colonial South. By 1790, while New Yorkers (county population 33,000) were fixing windmills, grazing sheep, and draining swamps, Charlestonians (county population 67,000) were attending operas and piano recitals.
Earthquake!
In September of 1886, 60 residents died when Charleston was visited by an earthquake estimated at a magnitude of 6.8.
But Charleston residents didn't just host luncheons and tea parties. The city "hosted" the first major naval battle of the American Revolution, and the first shots of the Civil War were fired here, too. As the South's premier seaport during the 18th century, the city was a very busy place.
But time passed by, and it bypassed by Charleston. Following the Civil War, the city lost some of its maritime prominence to other industrial ports to the north and west. In retrospect, however, this loss of prominence probably saved the city's beautiful waterfront homes, antebellum mansions, and historic core from the demolition-hungry needs of urban growth. Since 1931, when the city established its "Old Historic District" zone, protecting a 23-block area (one of the first cities in the nation to make such a recognition), Charleston has kept one foot in the present and one in the past. Few American towns are so linked to their histories, and so open to share that history with visitors.
For the cruise visitor, Charleston is nearly ideal. The city's easy pace, almost impossibly charming homes, compact Historic District, and proximity to the cruise piers makes it a terrific town to begin and end a cruise. It's hard to believe that a city repeatedly ravaged by fires, hurricanes, epidemics, wars, and earthquakes can maintain such a pleasant and polite demeanor, yet it does! Arrive early or stay late - there's a lot for y'all to see!
