Self-Guided Charleston Walking Tours
For the first time ever, guests for the Preservation Society’s 2024 Fall Tours can explore the streets of Charleston anytime, free of charge, learning more about its storied history with new self-guided tours via the Bloomberg Connects app.
Developed from the PSC’s digital research initiatives, this initial series of five self-guided walking tours can be easily accessed from any mobile device. Simply download the Bloomberg Connects app, search for the Preservation Society, and select a tour. Guests can follow the suggested walking route and read the information about each point along the way.
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The self-guided tours include histories of the Charleston Cemetery Historic District and significant civil rights sites from PSC’s Charleston Justice Journey project, along with tours of historic markers in the downtown South of Broad, Ansonborough, and Harleston Village neighborhoods.
These self-guided tours have been released in conjunction with the Preservation Society’s annual Fall Tours, which offer unique opportunities to experience historic Charleston firsthand. The new self-guided tours strengthen the Preservation Society’s focus on minimizing the impacts of tourism on residents’ quality of life in historic neighborhoods.
In addition to the self-guided tours, the Fall Tours has also expanded opportunities to learn more about early suburban communities off the peninsula, including in the Crescent neighborhood in West Ashley, and on historic Sullivan’s Island. Tickets are still available for select Fall Tours offerings.
ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: The PSC’s guide in the Bloomberg Connects app can be used with a screen reader and can be translated into many other languages, increasing the accessibility of our research initiatives.
FREE SELF-GUIDED TOURS AVAILABLE NOW:
Charleston Justice Journey
The Charleston Justice Journey is a project of the Preservation Society of Charleston that recognizes sites significant to African American history and the ongoing journey toward racial equality in Charleston and the Lowcountry. This tour explores select sites that deepen our collective understand of the people, institutions, movements, and events that shaped the course of the region’s Civil Rights history.
Charleston Cemetery Historic District
The Charleston Cemetery Historic District stands as a testament to the city’s rich history and evolving landscape. Magnolia Cemetery, the district’s first cemetery, was established on the former grounds of the Magnolia Umbra Plantation. From its inception in 1849, the area expanded rapidly, incorporating additional cemeteries to accommodate the growing needs of Charleston’s diverse communities. This expansion continued through the mid-20th century, resulting in a district that today comprises 23 cemeteries in Charleston’s upper peninsula.
This tour will guide you through seven distinct cemeteries within the Charleston Cemetery Historic District, each with its unique history and significance. Each cemetery within the district offers an important window into Charleston’s past, revealing the diverse cultural, religious, and social influences that have shaped the city over the centuries. As you explore these sacred grounds, you will encounter stories of resilient communities preserved within the landscape of the Charleston Cemetery Historic District.
South of Broad
The area south of Broad Street is one of Charleston’s earliest and most notable historic neighborhoods and comprises the original boundaries of the Old & Historic District, the nation’s first historic district to be protected by zoning. Located at the southernmost tip of the Charleston peninsula, where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet, the neighborhood is where the only English walled city in colonial North America was founded in 1670. The original grid designed by the Lords Proprietors was laid out with narrow, deep lots. The house plan designed to fit within this grid became the popular Charleston “single house” form. This design was likely rooted in the English rowhouse, a tradition that craftspeople carried across the Atlantic. The “single house” is defined by a one-room-wide and two-room deep floor plan with a central stair hall and a side piazza. Typically found on a property’s south or west side, the piazza provides shade and allows for air circulation in a hot climate.
Ansonborough
Ansonborough was developed as one of Charleston’s earliest suburbs. Its namesake, Captain George Anson, acquired the land in 1724. Many early residents of this neighborhood worked in the shipyards, mills, and other industrial trades along the nearby Cooper River wharves to the east. In 1838, one of the most destructive fires in Charleston’s history swept through the city, affecting Ansonborough most heavily. The blaze spanned 150 acres and damaged or destroyed at least 1,100 buildings. Today, only a few of Ansonborough’s late 18th- and early 19th-century buildings remain. Over time, Ansonborough experienced decline, and it was not until 1960 that extensive rehabilitation began. After decades of historic preservation efforts, the Ansonborough neighborhood is a vibrant microcosm of Charleston’s history, including residences, restaurants, inns, religious houses of worship, and more.
Harleston Village
This tour explores select historic properties Harleston Village, one of the largest neighborhoods in Charleston. The 2,000-acre area known today as Harleston Village was granted to Henry Hughes and John Coming, who arrived in Charleston in 1670 as some of the earliest English colonists. Named for the Harleston family, who owned the land in the 18th century, Harleston Village was largely developed between the 1770s and 1790s. It was home to the United States’s first golf course, constructed in 1786 by Scottish merchants, and remains home to the nation’s oldest municipal college, the College of Charleston, founded in 1770. The lumber industry also shaped the neighborhood’s waterfront in the 18th century. Lumber mills were established along the Ashley River and manmade millponds were created as a power source for the mills. The lumber mills switched to steam power in the mid-1800s, but the millponds remained untouched until the early 1900s. Development of the neighborhood and infill of the creeks and ponds continued until after World War II.