A small temporary earthwork was constructed just south of Shem Creek behind the Jacob Motte house (now known as the Hibben House). This battery was constructed to defend the Hog Island Channel. …

Lempriere’s Point was located on the northwest shore of Mount Pleasant at the mouth of the Wando River. The property was part of a plantation owned by Captain Clement Lempriere and the location of…

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…

Beauregard returned to Charleston in September 1862 to, once again, assume command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia for the Confederacy. Headquartered in Charleston, he quickly began…

Early in the war, torpedoes (mines) were placed in the Hog Island Channel to defend against Union ships that might slip past Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie. The Hog Island Battery, also known as the…

The Hibben Street Battery was located behind the Hibben House on a high bluff at the western terminus of Hibben Street in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant overlooking Charleston Harbor. The battery…

Venning’s Landing Battery was located at another ferry landing 1.37 miles northeast of Kinloch’s Landing Battery on the southeast shore of Mount Pleasant facing Sullivan’s Island. Like Kinloch’s…

A two-gun battery was constructed in 1863 at Kinloch’s Landing, a ferry landing facing Sullivan’s Island. The battery was 2.16 miles northeast of Battery Gary. It was originally constructed with a…

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…

Fort Palmetto, a three-gun battery, was constructed at the eastern terminus of the Christ Church Lines. This strong fortification commanded both Hamlin Sound and Dewee’s Inlet. Dewee’s Inlet, located…

General Robert E. Lee was sent to Charleston in early November 1861 to oversee the design and construction of defenses for the South Carolina coast and the cities of Charleston and Savannah. Lee and…

The Mount Pleasant Battery was a two-gun battery built at the end of present-day Schweers Lane, adjacent to Pitt Street. It was armed with two 10-inch seacoast mortars. From this vantage point, the…

"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…

Jonathan Lucas, Sr., a skilled millwright, sailed from England in the 1780s and shipwrecked on the Carolina coast. Remembered for his brilliance in wind and water-powered mill design, Lucas invented a…

Mamie P. Whitesides Elementary School is named for Miss Mary Pinckney Whitesides, more fondly known as Miss Mamie. She was born May 3, 1884, and was the youngest of John Frazier Whitesides and Abigail…

Dunes West was part of two proprietary grants that deeded 460 acres to Francis Gracia in 1699 and 620 acres to Thomas Carry in 1704. When the two properties were combined and sold to George Logan in…

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…

Elias Whilden, planter and mayor (1857-1858), built his home c. 1840. Five sons fought for the Confederacy, including John Marshall Whilden. John was Captain of the Citadel cadets who fired on the…

On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war against Great Britain. One of the first units to be mustered into the service was the Third Regiment of South Carolina Militia, which was stationed at…

Indians living along the Wando River 1200 years ago made distinctive pottery using limestone and clay from the river banks. This type of pottery is found only in the Wando River Basin and is…