Glimpses of Charleston

A local's eye view

Four Post Alley

Officially known as Gadsden’s Alley, this little cut-through between Elliot Street and Broad Street was commonly known as Four Post Alley. It was closed by the city in 1919, but you can still see this part — and a cool hand-painted “Four Post Alley” on the wall of one of the buildings — on the Elliot Street side.

Wintry

A chilly Charleston winter day. The funky looking tower in the middle was built in 1888 and is located behind a now-defunct firehouse at 112 Meeting Street. It was part of  city’s fire warning system and was in use until 1953.

Siesta Time?

If you are going to hang out in a hammock, the beautiful Branford-Horry House, at the corner of Meeting and Tradd Streets, is not a bad spot. Built in 1750, the striking portico was added in the 1830’s— making it one of the few buildings that extends over the sidewalk in Charleston.

High Low

A pretty sunrise as seen from the new high Low Battery — the raised and redone section of the Low Battery, located along Murray Boulevard. The street is named after Andrew Buist Murray, who grew up in a Charleston orphanage. After making a success of himself, he repaid the city in a number of ways, including financing the building of a vocational school on Chalmers Street which bore his name (it’s now condos!).

Williams Mansion

The Williams Mansion (formerly known as the Calhoun Mansion) is one of the largest single family houses in Charleston, coming it at 24,000 square feet.

Morning on Legare

This house is just waking up on Legare Street. The Charles Elliot House was built around 1764, when the threat of house fires was very real and dangerous. As a way to help safeguard the house, it cleverly included masonry firewalls between the main rooms — which extended from the cellar to the attic.

The Bridge

A view up the Cooper River to “The Bridge.” One of the great features of the Cooper River Bridge is the 2.7 mile  pedestrian/bicycle path, which provides spectacular views of the river, city and harbor. The path is named Wonders’ Way, after Olympic hopeful Garrett Wonders who was killed in a car/bicycle collision.

Beautiful Stolls

Stoll’s Alley is one of the wonderful cut-throughs in downtown Charleston. Once called Pilot’s Alley (after the harbor pilots who would use it to quickly get to the harbor), this brick-lined “street” runs between Church and East Bay Streets. At its narrowest, it’s just a few feet wide!