Charleston, SC Tour Day #2

I hope everyone enjoyed the first day of our tour around Charleston, South Carolina (my hometown).  Today, we're heading out to another historical landmark that played an important role in our nation's history.  Fort Sumter sits in the Charleston harbor as another defense point against enemies approaching from the sea.

The fort is actually built on a man-made island.  Construction started after the War of 1812 and was still incomplete in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the Union.

The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter from Fort Johnson on James Island at 4:30 a.m.  The bombardment continued for 33 hours straight.  No Union soldiers were killed during the battle.  Union soldiers surrendered and evacuated.  The Confederate General, P.G.T. Beauregard, and the U.S. Army Major, Robert Anderson, had such a close relationship before the war that Beauregard allowed Anderson and his men to return to the north unharmed and even gave them a 100-cannon salute.  During that salute, one Confederate soldier died from a cannon misfire and a Union soldier was wounded during the 27th shot of the salute.  The firing stopped at 50 cannon blasts to avoid anymore accidents.

Major Anderson returned to the north where he received a hero's welcome.  He carried with him the flag that flew over Fort Sumter during the day and a half bombardment.  That flag is now on display in a case at the Fort Sumter National Museum.

Fort Sumter was restored and rebuilt several times after the Civil War to make it a useful again for the military.  It had soldiers based there during World War I and World War II before it was decommissioned.  The fort is now under the administration of the U.S. National Park Service and is accessible by taking a half hour boat trip from either Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant or from downtown Charleston.  The last picture of the fort that shows a boarded up cannon hole, actually shows a shell (still in the brick) that was fired at the fort during the Civil War.  There are three such shells still in the walls of the fort.

The picture below of the brown building with four columns shows the start of the "Market" in downtown Charleston.  This is the place where slaves would come to sell their goods.  It is just down the road from where the slaves were actually sold when they came in to port.  Now this three-block long market still serves as a place for people to sell their wares.  Everything from t-shirts to key chains and spices are sold in the open air buildings.  This is a very popular tourist attraction to buy souvenirs or try some handmade candy or enjoy a meal.  There are still folks that practice basket weaving called Sweetgass Baskets.  This is a tradition that was brought over by slaves from Africa over 300 years ago.  This is one of the oldest art forms of African origin in the United States.  Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (just outside of Charleston) has the distinction of being the only place where this particular type of basketry is practiced.  The sweetgrass can be found in Lowcountry marshes, palmetto fronds, bulrush, and pine needles.  Check out this website for a great, detailed history of the art form: http://www.sweet-grassbaskets.com/history.htm.

The picture of the white building with six columns is the new Customs House.  Construction on this building began in 1853, but encountered monetary problems during and after the Civil War.  Construction was resumed in 1870 and completed in 1879.  The building has been used to conduct port business ever since.

The next couple of pictures show a little bit of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.  This is a state supported college that has nearly 2,000 students in its Corp of Cadets and 1,200 civillian students in its evening programs.  Only the cadets are required to live on campus, and they do not attend classes with civilians.  There are a few exceptions to that rule though.  Those include active military and veterans.  The Citadel came in to existence in December of 1842 when the South Carolina Legislature passed an act establishing the school.  The original mission of the school was to educate young men to protect the city from a possible slave rebellion.  The school was all male until the mid 90's when a female, Shannon Faulkner, sued the school for rejecting her application based on her gender.  She was allowed to attend the school because the judge said that a state funded school can't discriminate when it comes to admitting students.  Faulkner came to the school in August and only lasted six days before dropping out.  Most of those days were spent in the infirmary from exhaustion.

Tomorrow, we'll take a trip to Patriot's Point where four military ships are docked for visitors to walk through.  One is the World War II aircraft carrier, Yorktown.  We'll also talk about some of the historic houses in the area.



Thanks for checking in...

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist