About Charleston, S.C.

English settlers founded the city of Charleston in 1670 at Albemarle Point on the western bank of the Ashley River. Originally named Charles Town in honor of His Majesty, Charles II, of England, the city was relocated to its present site at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers in 1680. Charleston has endured five major fires, a devastating earthquake, numerous hurricanes, and two national wars. During both the Revolutionary War and Civil War, enemy armies occupied Charleston, and the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor. With many well-preserved structures from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the cityscape of modern Charleston is one of the most historic in America.