In late summer 1706, a combined force of French and Spanish troops attacked the South Carolina Lowcountry intent on vanquishing the fledgling English colony as Charles Town reeled from a plague of yellow fever. Intended to catch the colony off-guard and weakened by disease, the surprise was foiled when a privateer sloop ran into the fleet outside of St. Augustine and rushed back to Charles Town with a warning. When the enemy arrived, Charles Town was prepared, and the invading fleet was unable to force a surrender.

Near this site, a combined force of colonists and Native American allies under the commands of Captains Fenwick, Lynch, and Canty engaged the enemy in the open field. After exchanging volleys of fire, the enemy “quit the field and fled away in great disorder and confusion.” In this disoriented state, seven enemy combatants drowned in a creek while attempting to flee. Following a tumultuous beginning to the colony, this victory proved a moment of unity for the young colony of South Carolina as men from all around the surrounding countryside heeded the call to come in defense.

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Following the British attack on St. Augustine in 1702, a combined French and Spanish fleet moved to Charles Town, weakened by a yellow fever epidemic. On August 21, a ship arrived at the port city, warning of the arrival of the attacking fleet. The invaders gathered at the outer bar on August 25 and three days later made a demand for the surrender of the city.

After the surrender demand was rejected, on August 29, the French and Spanish privateers sent a small landing party ashore at Barksdale Plantation (present-day Old Village Mount Pleasant). The main attack group made landfall at Col. Dearsley's Creek (Hobcaw Creek), where they burned a storehouse and two vessels at Dearsley's Shipyard.

The next day, Governor Johnson ordered militia led by Capt. Fenwick, Capt. Lynch, and Capt. Canty east of the Cooper River to meet the attack. As the invaders attacked their way across the Wando Neck, they were pursued by the local militias. Everyone faced off to battle in a 150-acre open field at Hatchman's Plantation.

After suffering casualties, the French and Spanish troops retreated to their ships. Their fleet retreated on August 31. The French ship, Le Brilliante, moved to Sewee Bay to continue the attack. The ship was captured and captain taken prisoner. The Charles Town Vice Admiral William Rhett sailed victoriously into Charles Town aboard his prize, the Le Brilliante, along with local sloops Seaflower and the Flying-horse. It was a crushing defeat for the French and Spanish, with 230 men taken prisoner. These men were sent to Virginia and ordered dispersed among the British fleet to be sent to Britain for judgment under Queen Anne.

The main component of the French and Spanish forces were privateers who had been assembled and recruited from various ports such as Havana, having been offered the opportunity for adventure and potential fortune. Thus, once ashore, the privateers, without clear leadership, were disorganized and lacked a common goal. On the opposite side, stood Governor Nathaniel Johnson and Vice Admiral William Rhett who struck with surgical precision and with organized men eager to defend their land.

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The Whilden House served as Union headquarters after the fall of Mount Pleasant in February 1865. Among the occupying troops was the first black volunteer 54th Mass. regiment. Under the command of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, this unit was made famous by its assault on Battery Wagner in February 1865. The regiment mustered out in Mount Pleasant in August 1865

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In 1847, Charles Jugnot and Oliver Hillard, owners of Mount Pleasant Ferry Company, developed a picnic ground in a grove of live oaks, called Hort’s Grove. They built the first Alhambra as a summer retreat and dance hall overlooking Charleston Harbor. The present building was constructed in 1937 and is maintained by the town as a multipurpose recreational facility.

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Named by an Act of the General Assembly in honor of State Senate Arthur Ravenel, Jr., who enthusiastically spearheaded a broad-based effort to secure the funds for its construction Arthur Ravenel, Jr. was born in 1927, and is a Native of Charleston, US Marine, graduate of the College of Charleston, successful businessman, environmentalist, SC House of Representatives 1953-1958, SC Senate 1981-1986,US Congress 1987-1994, SC Senate 1999-2004.

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On August 18, 1863, as Beauregard and his staff sought to strengthen inner harbor defenses, Lieutenant Colonel D. B. Harris, Chief Engineer, was directed to construct a new battery for “heavy guns” at the site of the old mortar battery on Mount Pleasant. This fortification was placed to cover the Hog Island Channel, the inner harbor, and the bridge leading to Sullivan’s Island. The battery was armed with two 8-inch Columbiads on barbette carriages and designed to include a powder magazine.

On August 29, 1863, Thomas Jordan, Beauregard’s Chief of Staff, issued Special Orders No. 167, which named the new Mount Pleasant battery as Battery Gary in honor of Captain John Gary, commander of Company A, Lucas Artillery Battalion. Gary was killed on August 13, 1863, while serving at Battery Wagner on Morris Island.

A report in April 1864 confirmed the placement of two 8-inch Columbiads at Battery Gary and listed the ammunition inventory as 286 8-inch shells, 57 8-inch shot, eight 8-inch grapeshot, and twenty-eight 8-inch canister shot.

Battery Gary was located at the end of present-day Schweers Lane, adjacent to Pitt Street. The battery was constructed in the same area as a Revolutionary War Patriot fortification. The battery is destroyed and the property today serves as a private residence.

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In 1864, the Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley departed from Battery Marshall near this spot on Sullivan’s Island. It passed through Breach Inlet on assignment to sink the U.S.S. Housatonic. The Hunley crew signaled Battery Marshall that their mission was successful, but the submarine sank. The wreck of the H.L. Hunley and crew were recovered in 2000.

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Boone Hall Plantation, established in 1681 by a grant to Major John Boone, remained in the family for 130 years. The plantation, purchased by the Horlbeck family in 1817, produced primarily Sea Island cotton. A cotton gin, smokehouse, and 9 slave cabins, all built of brick made here, survive from the antebellum period. The present main house at Boone Hall was built for Thomas A. Stone in 1936.

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Brickyard Plantation is a portion of the vast Boone Hall Plantation. The soils that cover much of the tract contain dense red clay and sand making it suitable for brick production. In 1817, “a plantation with a Brick Yard established thereon called Boon Hall” was purchased by John and Henry Horlbeck. The brothers were partners in the construction industry having built several notable structures in Charleston such as the St John’s Lutheran Church and St. Stephen’s Chapel. The Horlbecks developed the brick yard into a major enterprise. From 1850 to 1860, twenty five million bricks were produced at a profit of $170,000. The brick yard operated throughout the nineteenth century and was later known as the Horlbeck Brick and Tile Company. The facility consisted of several kilns, workshops, drying areas, a brick lined cistern, a commissary, and a steam boiler. The boiler’s brick chimney stands today.

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In 1776, a force of British Army regulars attempted to cross Breach Inlet in an effort to capture Fort Sullivan (Fort Moultrie). Their advance was thwarted and many British lives lost when their boats were caught in treacherous currents while under fire from Colonel Thomson’s Eutawville sharpshooters who had erected a temporary fort near this spot overlooking Breach Inlet.

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In 1933 this land was the property of Clovis Goblet. Yonge Simmons purchased it by auction in 1934. Mr. Simmons’ descendant sold the property to the Town of Mount Pleasant and Mount Pleasant Waterworks and

Sewer Commission in 1968. In the early 1960s the Commission began design of a wastewater collection system. Construction began on a primary treatment facility capable of processing 1.4 million gallons per day (MGD). The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit to fill in the marsh and construct an 18” outfall line. Plant operations for this contact stabilization, secondary treatment plant began in June 1970: Mount Pleasant’s first form of wastewater treatment. Under the Federal Grants Program the facility was expanded in 1980 from 1.4 MGD to 3.7 MGD with the addition of flow equalization and conversion to the conventional activated sludge treatment process.

Simultaneously, small package plants were taken out of service and flow from these plants was diverted to Center Street Wastewater Treatment Plant. A new outfall line was constructed in 1989, with a capacity of 17 MGD. All treated wastewater is discharged through the outfall line 4,700 feet into Charleston Harbor, in the Rebellion Reach Channel. From 2012-2015 $27.2 million was invested in the Center Street Wastewater Treatment Capacity

Enhancement Project. Increased treatment capacity sustains economic development, which in turn facilitates job growth to benefit the Town, region and State. Energy efficiency enhancements reduced annual treatment costs and the positive impact on water quality in Charleston Harbor is critical to the region, to Mount Pleasant, and to the beautiful Lowcountry environment.

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On September 25, 1954, WUSN, the second television station in Charleston, signed onto the airwaves as a NBC affiliate. The call letters stood for U.S. Navy in an effort to gain a loyal following among Charleston Navy Yard personnel. Early local programs included The Lucky 2 Ranch, Time for Teens, and Afloat & Afield. In 1975, the call letters were changed to WCBD, a reference to the tri-county.

In 1954, Drayton Hastie, owner of WUSN, purchased Suzie Q, an Asian elephant, for $2,700 from a New York importer. A gimmick to lure viewers from WCSC, Suzie Q became WUSN’s mascot in residence sharing the grounds with an alligator, kangaroo, donkey, exotic birds, and other animals. This pachyderm packed pleasure and adventure in her trunk and imprinted indelible memories on the Lowcountry.

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"When William L. Pierce of Georgia sat down in Philadelphia to assess his

fellow delegates at what would become the Constitutional Convention of

1787, he saw Charles Pinckney as “a young Gentleman of the most

promising talents…intimately acquainted with every species of polite

learning” and possessing “a spirit of application and industry beyond most

Men.” The youngest of the South Carolina delegates and long-time

advocate of a strong central government, Pinckney had been among the

first to call for a general convention to amend the ineffective Articles of

Confederation by which the country had been governed since 1781. He

attended every session, served on the committee that prepared the rules of

procedure, and participated frequently and effectively in debates, speaking

“with great neatness and perspicuity” and treating “every subject as

fully…as it requires.” Of special note were his strong arguments for

protecting property interests and establishing a central government with a

clear separation of powers, a government that would represent the rights of

the people. He is most widely remembered for his celebrated draft of a

constitution, which, though never formally considered by the convention,

contained 30 or more provisions that were incorporated into the final

document. Although embroiled in controversy during his lifetime and

overlooked by early historians after his death, modern historians have

confirmed Charles Pinckney as a leader at the convention who helped

resolve problems that arose during the debates and contributed

significantly to the creation of the world’s oldest written national instrument

of government.

Charles Pinckney was born into a prominent Charleston, S.C., family on

October 26, 1757. His father, a wealthy planter and attorney, was also

commanding officer of the local militia, a member of the General

Assembly, and, in 1775, president of the South Carolina Provincial

Congress. The Pinckneys were part of Charleston’s social elite.

Young Charles received his basic schooling from Dr. David Oliphant, a

noted South Carolina scholar who emphasized history, the classics,

political science, and languages. In 1773, when the growing unrest

between Great Britain and the colonies disrupted Charles’s plans to attend

school in England, he stayed home and studied law with his father.

Charles’s career of public service started in 1779 at age 21 in the midst of

the American Revolution. After joining the South Carolina Bar, he

represented Christ Church Parish in the General Assembly and, as a

lieutenant in his father’s militia regiment, took part in the abortive Franco-

American attempt to retake Savannah, Ga., from the British.

When the British captured Charleston in the spring of 1780, Charles and

his father were arrested and imprisoned along with other American officers.

Charles remained confined until June 1781. His father, however, was freed

after swearing allegiance to the British Crown, an action that saved the

Pinckney estate, including Snee Farm, from confiscation.

In 1784, after serving briefly in the General Assembly, Charles Pinckney

was selected as a delegate to Congress, then meeting in Trenton, N.J. In

May 1787 he, his cousin Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler, and

John Rutledge represented South Carolina at the Constitutional Convention

meeting in Philadelphia to address the weaknesses in the Articles of

Confederation. Charles Pinckney took an active part in the debates and

subsequently labored diligently for South Carolina to ratify the new

Constitution, which it did on May 23, 1788.

In April 1788 Pinckney married Mary Eleanor Laurens, with whom he would

have three children. Over the next 10 years he held a variety of political

offices, including president of the South Carolina State Constitutional

Convention (1790), governor of South Carolina (1789-91, 1791-92, and

1796-98), and U.S. Senator (1798-1801).

During the nation’s formative years, the Pinckneys were supporters of the

Federalist Party. By 1795, however, Charles had come to view the

Federalists as the party of the rich and well-born and he joined Thomas

Jefferson’s newly formed Democratic-Republican Party, championing the

interests of rural Americans over those of the tidewater aristocracy. During

the Presidential campaign of 1800, Pinckney was Jefferson’s South

Carolina campaign manager and helped him win the election. As a reward,

Jefferson appointed him Ambassador to Spain, a post he held from 1801-

05. During that time, he helped to facilitate the transfer of Louisiana from

France and made a valiant but unsuccessful effort to get Spain to cede

Florida to the United States.

Pinckney returned to South Carolina in January 1806 and served briefly in

the General Assembly before being elected to his fourth and final term as

governor (1806-08). In 1818, after a final term in the legislature and a brief

retirement from active political life, he was elected to the U.S. House of

Representatives, from which he retired in 1821. He spent his final years

writing of his travels and political life. He died on October 29, 1824, at age

67, after more than 40 years of service to community, state, and nation. He

is buried at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Charleston."

Text courtesy of the National Park Service's Official Park Brochure

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The Church Act of 1706 created Christ Church Parish. The first church, a wooden structure built in 1707, accidentally burned in 1725. A brick church was erected in 1726, and although the British burned it in 1782 and the interior was destroyed by Union Troops in 1865, the original walls still stand. In 1874, the church was restored and consecrated.

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In 1958, the section of U.S. 17 that passed through Mount Pleasant, also known as Old Georgetown Road, was named in honor of Mayor Francis F. Coleman (1946-1960). During his term in office, the road was widened, town limits extended, and the population grew from 1500 to 5000. He was also known for his dedication to improving the standard of living for all citizens of Mount Pleasant.

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The earthworks nearby are remains of the 1861 fortification built to defend Mount Pleasant. They extended east 2.5 miles from Butler’s Creek at Boone Hall Plantation to Fort Palmetto on Hamlin Sound. Supporting this line were Battery Gary and those at Hobcaw Point, Hog Island, Hibben Street, and Venning’s and Kinloch’s landings. Federal troops occupied the town 18 February 1865.

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This plantation cemetery predates the American Revolution. It was established by early members of the Hamlin, Hibben and Leland families. James Hibben (d. 1835), one of the founders of Mount Pleasant, is buried here. Generations of both white and black families are interred here. In 2003 this cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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Before the Revolutionary War, a plank bridge built on barrels was constructed across the inlet separating Mount Pleasant from Sullivan's Island. In 1864, the H.L.Hunley crew crossed the footbridge on the way to Breach Inlet to test dive the submarine. A trolley bridge spanned the cove in 1898 and was replaced by a vehicle bridge in 1927 known as Pitt Street Bridge.

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In 2016, the Mount Pleasant Historical Commission established the Cresco Historical Stewardship Award ("Cresco Award"). The purpose of the Cresco Award is to recognize an individual, group, or organization for exceptional accomplishment in preserving the physical and/or cultural heritage of Mount Pleasant. The Cresco Award is presented annually by the Mayor of Mount Pleasant and consists of an official Mount Pleasant proclamation with the Town Seal and an inscription citing the name of the award recipient and reasons for the award. The proclamation is accompanied by a bronze medallion featuring the official Town Seal of Mount Pleasant, the name of the award recipient, and date of award presentation. Apply online today!

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