Glimpses of Charleston

A local's eye view

Textures

Some wonderful textures of Charleston on Tradd Street. The weird bark of the crepe myrtle tree is a wonderful part of the Charleston scene.

Fall Morning

Waterfront Park is beautiful in the pre-dawn hours. The building on the right is home to the Charleston Harbor Pilots, without whom the giant cargo ships would not be able to navigate Charleston Harbor. And if they couldn’t do that, all the goodies carried on those ships would not be making their way to shore.

Door

You can find this beautiful door at 34 Meeting Street. Built around 1760, the house was rented to Lord William Campbell in 1775. But he was not able to enjoy the house for too long, as he was the last British Governor of South Carolina and had to flee and return back to England as the American Revolution approached.

Broad Before the Dawn

A view down Broad Street before sunrise. The near intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets is popularly called The Four Corners of Law. Why? The buildings on each corner of that intersection represent a different level of law — Federal (US Post Office and Federal Courthouse), State (Charleston County Courthouse — in which state law is enforced), City (Charleston City Hall) and ecclesiastical law (St. Michael’s Church).  Some bonus trivia…did you know this phrase was first coined by the founder of Ripley’s Believe it or Not?

Fall

Some fall beauty in Charleston in Waterfront Park. The towers of the Cooper River Bridge in the rear each sit on a rock island that is an acre in size. The purpose of the islands is to protect the towers from any ship that might head their way. They are big enough that any ship will be stopped before striking the bridge.

Illuminated Spire

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Broad Street is the second church to be built on this site. The first burned down in a fire in 1861. It then took 45 years to raise the money and build the current building. But, they didn’t have enough money to add the spire. What you see here illuminated in the early morning sun took another 103 years to raise the funds for and install.

Fall Blooms

The senna or cassia has been magnificent all around Charleston this fall. This one can be front of the Gadsen-Burckmeyer House (c. 1820s) on South Battery. The house originally had doubled-tiered bow front piazzas, but those were removed early in the early 20th century.