Choose Charleston

              In 1663, Charles II had his eight faithful friends, known as the Lords Proprietor.  After seven years of planning, the Lords finally arranged the settlement, which was named Charles Town. Charles Town was established in 1670 on the banks of the beautiful Ashley River. One of the Lord’s Proprietors, Anthony Ashley-Cooper picked the location on the promise that Charles Town would become a “great porte town”.  As the settlement grew in population, the need to move to new location forced a move to the peninsula that Charleston is currently located. 

              Not everyone was thrilled with the success of the young settlement. France and Spain attacked Charles Town routinely as they contested claim of the land.  In addition to France and Spain, Native American’s also resisted the growing community which took over the land the Native American’s once hunted and lived. In fear, Charles Town colonists put up a huge wall around the entire colony to survive the attacks from sea (Pirates) and land. The modern day Charleston features only two buildings left from the protected colony, the Pink House which was a tavern that hosted community gatherings, and the Powder Magazine, a building that stored the city’s gunpowder.

 In 16800, the Grand Modell, laid out a plan to build a “regular town” and build Charleston into the future.  Deciding the need for a Civic Square, land was set aside where Meeting and Broad Streets met which later become known as the Four Corners of Law.  St. Michael’s Episcopal Church was built on the corner in 1752 and is known as Charleston’s oldest and most famous church.  In addition to the church, the capitol of the colony was built in 1753. It was said that provincial court met on the first floor, while Royal Governor’s Council and the Commons House of Assembly met on the second floor. 

If you would like to go deeper into Charleston’s history, then visit Charleston History. Planning a vacaton to Charleston? Then I would suggest going to the Charleston Musuem!

This weekend is looking to be a great time to catch up on indoor activities, fun out of the sun. What can you do in Charleston this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday without crisping up like a fried pork rind? Here’s a half-dozen possibilites:

1. Catch Merle Haggard at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center ($45.50, Friday, August 10, 8 p.m.)

2. Take the ch’urns to the Charleston Museum for an “Around the World” multicultural adventure ($10 adults, $5 ch’urns, Saturday, August 11, 10 a.m.)

3. Sit down with Southern author Josephine Humphries at the Charleston County Library to learn the whats and wherefores of being a novelist (Free, Saturday, August 11, 10:30 a.m.)

4. Go for a Sunday drive in the country with the windows up and a/c cranked. Use binoculars to catch a close-up of roadside attractions and historic markers (Don’t laugh - I have seen people in RVs doing exactly that).

5. Go see a foodie flick on the big screen - Ratatouille for the young or young at heart foodies, No Reservations for the romantic foodies, The Simpsons for the Quik-E-Mart foodies.

6. Alternate reading your favorite book with catnaps and Fudgesicles all weekend until reality returns Monday morning.

Those with a yen for yarn, take heed.

The Charleston Museum is once again offering a workshop on natural dyes for yarns.  On Saturday, August 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Suzanne Collins will give you the skinny on natural dyes, the what and wherefore of fibers, and the basic game plan for putting the two together.

Whether you’re in it for the indigo or whooping for worsted wool, it should be a class to remember.

These workshops sell out faster than Acme delivers to Wile E. Coyote so make sure you get your name in quick (there is also a dye workshop on August 4 but it’s too late, baby, as Carole King would say, for that one).

$25 will get you in the door should you happen to be a museum member and $35 will do the trick if you aren’t.

Register online or by calling (843) 722-2996 ext. 235.

Ashley River Road is well known as not only a national scenic highway but also as home to historic treasures such as Drayton Hall, Magnolia Plantation, and Middleton Place.

 Top that off with the road’s position along the ecologically vital Ashley River and the necessity of maintaining a greenbelt for the area and one might think that this would be the last place anyone would dream of gouging out acres of old growth oaks and replacing them with new subdivisions.

Of course, as we all know, the battle to preserve Ashley River Road just goes on and on.

How bad is it already? Try to drive from Summerville to Charleston, or even just from Bees Ferry Road to the peninsula, during rush hour. The cars and trucks are lined up, bumper to bumper, for miles. How much worse will it be if developers are allowed to add even more high density subdivisions along the road?

A few sighs of relief came when the Ashley River Historic Overlay District was created, but now there is a proposal to reduce the size of that district.

Those who wish to make their opinion known on this should attend the meeting: Monday, June 18, at 7 p.m. County Council, St. George.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand written words can be more effective than the spoken word, especially when it comes to history. Many find that historical manuscripts can bring history alive better than any lesson in school.

California real estate investor, David Karpeles, discovered this in the late 1970’s while visiting the Huntington Library in Santa Barbara California, which houses a famous manuscript collection. He was intrigued to see how the documents caught the attention of his children. “It suddenly made history come alive for them”, he said. This sparked his interest in collecting historical manuscripts, which lead to the largest collection of privately owned manuscripts in the world. His first acquisition was a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln.

In 1983, Karpeles opened the first of seven museums to house his collection and renew a “sense of purpose for our children and ourselves.” His goals are set forth in the Creed he wrote for that opening. Charleston became the latest addition to the list in 1995.

Admission to the museum, located at 68 Spring Street, is free. There isn’t even a box begging for donations. The manuscripts on display will change approximately every three months and will depend on community interest.

Besides his copy of the emancipation Proclamation, the collections also includes music from Beethoven and Mozart, manuscripts from Poe and Kipling, notes from Einstein and Darwin, as well as manuscripts on important events like Space Travel, Women’s Rights, and Medical History along with over 1 million other documents. Currently, Charleston’s location has an exhibit about the Spanish American War, as well as original documents about The Wizard of Oz, and many other items.

If you’d like to go, the museum’s hours are from 10:00am to 5:00pm daily. It’s located in the former St. James United Methodist Church at 68 Spring St.