CHARLESTON 



1279 



CHARLESTON 



area of Charleston is about three and a quarter 

 square miles. 



Though Charleston occupies a foremost rank 

 commercially, it still retains many aspects pe- 

 culiar to the Southern states. The stately 

 mansions and lofty piazzas, the many gardens 

 with their profusion of magnolias, camellias, 

 jessamine and azaleas, the wide streets bordered 

 with live-oaks and other shade trees, stamp 

 it as one of the old leisure-loving cities of the 

 South. It has nine miles of water front, and 

 the harbor has been so improved by the con- 

 struction of jetties as to admit large vessels. 

 The defenses include Fort Sumter, Fort John- 

 son and Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, 

 where the Federal government has expended 

 over $500,000 to render the artillery post one 

 of the best-equipped in the United States. 

 Several million dollars have been expended in 

 improving the navy yard, on Cooper River. 



Parks and Boulevards. Charleston claims to 

 have the most beautiful gardens in the United 

 States. Of the many parks, Hampton is the 

 largest (318 acres). White Point Gardens, 

 Marion Square, Hampstead Wall, Colonial and 

 Washington parks are among the other recrea- 

 tion grounds of the city. Legare Street and 

 the Battery, a broad promenade about 500 

 yards long, are part of the residential dis- 

 tricts. King Street is the principal retail thor- 

 oughfare; Rutledge and Ashley avenues extend 

 the length of the city from north to south. 

 In the vicinity are several attractive resorts 

 easily reached by street railway. The Isle of 

 Palms is about ten miles north of the harbor. 



Institutions and Public Buildings. Among 

 the most noteworthy buildings are the white 

 marble United States customhouse, constructed 

 at a cost of $3,400,000; a $450,000 post 

 office and a $75,000 immigration depot. The 

 Charleston Museum, Gibbes Memorial Art 

 Building, the city hall, Hibernian Hall, Ex- 

 change, Citadel, Old Powder Magazine and the 

 City Market are all buildings of architectural, 

 historical or commercial interest. The most 

 conspicuous of Charleston's churches are Saint 

 Michael's (Episcopal), with its chimes and 

 lofty tower dating from 1761, and the Roman 

 Catholic Cathedral. Besides the public school 

 system the city has the College of Charleston, 

 dating from 1788, which has a museum; the 

 Aveiy Normal Institute (colored), and the 

 Medical College of South Carolina. There are 

 also numerous academies and business schools. 

 The library of Charleston is maintained by 

 subscription and is the third oldest in the 



United States, having been established in 1743. 

 Among the benevolent institutions are the 

 Home for Mothers, Widows and Daughters of 

 Confederate Soldiers; the Euston Home and 

 the Charleston Orphan Home. 



Commerce and Industry. Charleston is a 

 great distributing point and wholesale jobbing 

 center for the Southeast. It is the only coal- 

 export port on the South Atlantic coast, and 

 ships coal here for Cuba and South America. 

 It is also the great fuel-oil distributing point 

 for this section, having two companies with 

 tank capacities of 700,000 gallons each. An 

 abundance of sea-island cotton is grown in the 

 vicinity; this and rice, fruits, lumber, naval 

 stores and fertilizer form the chief exports. 

 The industries are numerous and varied, textile, 

 fertilizer, lumber and machinery plants being 

 the most important establishments. 



History. Charleston is one of the oldest 

 cities in the United States. An English settle- 

 ment was made here in 1670, and named 

 Charles Town, for King Charles II. A com- 

 pany of Huguenots joined the settlement in 

 1685. In 1775 it was the third seaport in im- 

 portance in America, and was the first South- 

 ern city to join the Revolution. In 1776 the 

 provincial congress of South Carolina met in 

 Charles Town and in the same year the first 

 independent state constitution was adopted. 

 In 1783 Charleston was incorporated, and until 

 1790 it was the capital of the state. The city 

 was visited by the greatest earthquake known 

 in the history of the United States, in August, 

 1886; more than $8,000,000 worth of property 

 was destroyed, three-fourths of the homes were 

 demolished or injured and many people were 

 killed. For forty years the city struggled to 

 regain the position it held previous to the 

 War of Secession; the progress it has made 

 during the last decade is remarkable. The 

 South Carolina Inter-State and West Indiun 

 Exposition, held in 1901, was an important fac- 

 tor in the growth of the city. UJ 



CHARLESTON, W. VA., the capital of the 

 state and the county seat of Kanawha County, 

 is situated in the middle western part of the 

 state, about midway between the northern and 

 southern borders, and on the Great Kanawha 

 River, at its junction with Elk River. Hunt- 

 ington is fifty miles west, Wheeling is 272 miles 

 north and east, and Cincinnati is 211 miles 

 west and north. Railway transportation is 

 provided by the Chesapeake & Ohio, Kanawha 

 & Michigan, Kanawha & West Virginia and 

 the Coal & Coke railways, and there ia steam- 



