The following is a timeline of the history of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
18thâ€"19th centuries
Timeline of events: Charleston church shooting - A man walked into a Charleston, South Carolina church on June 17, observed the parishioners worshiping for about an hour and then killed nine of them. Here is a look at the events surrounding...
- 1680 â€" Settlement of English immigrants, mostly from Barbados, relocates from Albemarle Point to site of future Charles Town.
- 1681 â€" St. Philip's Episcopal Church founded.
- 1708 â€" African slaves comprise majority of population in the colony; blacks make up majority of population in the city and state until the early 20th century
- 1719 â€" Town renamed "Charlestown" (approximate date).
- 1729 â€" St. Andrew's Society founded.
- 1732 â€" South Carolina Gazette newspaper begins publication.
- 1734 â€" South Carolina Jockey Club constituted.
- 1736 â€" Dock Street Theatre opens.
- 1737 â€" South-Carolina Society founded.
- 1739 â€" Stono Rebellion of slaves occurs near Charleston.
- 1740 â€" Fire.
- 1743 â€" Armory built.
- 1745 â€" Town gate rebuilt.
- 1748 â€" Charleston Library Society organized.
- 1750 â€" Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim founded.
- 1752 â€" September: Hurricane.
- 1761 â€" St. Michael's church built.
- 1765
- Resistance to British Stamp Act 1765.
- John Bartlam pottery in operation near Charleston.
- 1766
- St. Cecilia Society formed.
- German Friendly Society founded.
- 1769 â€" Town becomes part of Charleston District.
- 1770 â€" Population: 11,000.
- 1771 â€" Royal Exchange built.
- 1773 â€" Museum founded by the Charleston Library Society.
- 1774 â€" Charleston Tea Party protest.
- 1780 â€" Siege of Charleston.
- 1782 â€" December 14: British occupation ends.
- 1783
- Town renamed "Charleston."
- Charter received.
- Richard Hutson becomes mayor.
- City Guard organized.
- 1784 â€" Scotch Presbyterian church incorporated.
- 1786
- March: State capital moves from Charleston to Columbia.
- South Carolina Golf Club founded.
- 1788 â€" Charleston becomes part of the new US state of South Carolina.
- 1789 â€" Medical Society of South Carolina founded.
- 1790
- College of Charleston opens.
- Population: 16,359.
- 1791 â€" Roman Catholic Church of Charleston incorporated.
- 1792
- Charleston Orphan Asylum founded.
- Washington Race Course opens.
- 1794 â€" Charleston Mechanic Society and Brown Benevolent Society founded.
- 1797 â€" South Carolina Weekly Museum (magazine) begins publication.
- 1798 â€" Bank of South Carolina established.
- 1799 â€" Yellow fever outbreak.
- 1800
- Santee Canal (Columbia-Charleston) built.
- Population: 18,824.
- Charleston has largest Jewish population of any city in the US.
19th century
1800sâ€"1850s
- 1801 â€" Hibernian Society founded.
- 1803 â€" Courier newspaper begins publication.
- 1806 â€" Franklin Library Society founded.
- 1807 â€" Washington Light Infantry founded.
- 1810
- Castle Pinckney built.
- Population: 24,711.
- 1813 â€" Literary and Philosophical Society of South Carolina founded.
- 1815 â€" Religious Tract Society of Charleston organized.
- 1816 â€" Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church founded.
- 1819
- Charleston Mercury newspaper begins publication.
- New England Society of Charleston organized.
- Siegling Music House founded.
- 1820
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston established.
- Population: 24,780.
- 1822 â€" Denmark Vesey's alleged rebellion of slaves thwarted.
- 1823
- Charleston Port Society founded.
- Medical College of South Carolina incorporated.
- 1824
- Apprentices' Library Society incorporated.
- Charleston Museum opens.
- 1830 â€" Population: 30,289.
- 1833 â€" Charleston-Hamburg railroad begins operating.
- 1839
- Charleston Hotel built.
- St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church built.
- 1840 â€" Population: 29,261.
- 1841
- Market Hall built.
- Charleston Arsenal built.
- 1843 â€" South Carolina Military Academy opens.
- 1847 â€" Shearith Israel synagoguge built.
- 1849 â€" South Carolina Institute for the Promotion of Art, Mechanical Ingenuity, and Industry organized; annual Fair begins.
- 1850
- Magnolia Cemetery built.
- Roper Hospital established.
- Population: 42,985.
- 1852 â€" Museum founded by the College of Charleston.
- 1853 â€" Elliott Society of Natural History established.
- 1854
- Young Men's Christian Association of Charleston and B’rith Shalom congregation established.
- Old Bethel United Methodist Church rebuilt.
- Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar consecrated.
- 1855 â€" South Carolina Historical Society founded.
- 1856 â€" Ryan's Mart slave market established.
- 1858 â€" Carolina Art Association established.
- 1859 â€" Charleston Marine School opens.
1860sâ€"1890s
- 1860
- April: Democratic National Convention held in city.
- December: Popular outcry for secession from the Union.
- Population: 40,522.
- 1861
- January 2: State troops occupy Fort Johnson on James Island.
- January 9 â€" Citadel cadets fire on Union ship Star of the West.
- April: Battle of Fort Sumter.
- Population: 48,409.
- Floating Battery of Charleston Harbor built.
- Confederate Naval Sailor and Marines' Cemetery built.
- 1862
- May 13: Robert Smalls commandeers Confederate ship CSS Planter in Charleston Harbour.
- June 16: Battle of James Island.
- 1863
- Julyâ€"September 7: Siege of Charleston Harbor.
- July 11: First Battle of Fort Wagner.
- July 18: Second Battle of Fort Wagner.
- September 8: Second Battle of Fort Sumter.
- 1864 â€" February 17: Sinking of USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor.
- 1865
- Union troops occupy city.
- Daily News begins publication.
- St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Avery Normal Institute established.
- Shaw School opens.
- State Colored People's Convention held in city.
- 1866
- Colored YMCA established.[1]
- Furchgott dry goods store in business.
- 1867 â€" Porter Military Academy formed.
- 1868 â€" January 14: State constitutional convention held in Charleston.
- 1869 â€" Carolina Rifle Club organized.
- 1870
- Charleston Female Seminary established.
- Savannah and Charleston Railroad reopened.
- Magnolia Gardens opens.
- Population: 48,956.
- 1872 â€" St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church built.
- 1879 â€" United States Custom House built.
- 1880 â€" Population: 49,984.
- 1882 â€" City of Charleston Fire Department and Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church established.
- 1883 â€" Samuel Dibble becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.
- 1884 â€" Robert Smalls becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district.
- 1886 â€" August 31: The 6.9â€"7.3 Mw Charleston earthquake shakes South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people were killed and damage totalled $5â€"6 million in the region.
- 1889 â€" William Enston Homes built.
- 1890
- East Shore Terminal Company formed.
- Population: 54,955.
- 1891 â€" Central Baptist Church built.
- 1893 â€" August: 1893 Charleston Hurricane.
- 1895 â€" Century Club for women organized.
- 1896 â€" United States Post Office and Courthouse built.
- 1899 â€" Charleston City Federation of Women's Clubs organized.
- 1900 â€" Population: 55,807.
20th century
- 1901 â€" South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition opens.
- 1903 â€" Charleston Terminal Company created.
- 1906 â€" Hampton Park created.
- 1907
- Union Station built.
- Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist opens.
- 1908 â€" Gaud School established.
- 1909â€" Ashley Hall established
- 1910 â€" Population: 58,833.
- 1911 â€" People's Office Building constructed.
- 1912
- Carolina Arts and Crafts incorporated.
- Read Brothers store established.
- 1913 â€" Charleston Library Society building constructed.
- 1917 â€" National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Charleston branch established.
- 1918 â€" Garden Theatre built.
- 1920
- Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings founded.
- Lincoln Theatre opens.
- 1927 â€" Gloria Theatre opens.
- 1929 â€" John P. Grace Memorial Bridge opens.
- 1930
- Charleston County Library established.
- WCSC radio begins broadcasting.
- 1931 â€" Footlight Players theatre group formed.
- 1937 â€" Dock Street Theatre opens.
- 1938 â€" September 20: Tornado.
- 1939 â€" WTMA radio begins broadcasting.
- 1940 â€" August: 1940 South Carolina hurricane.
- 1942 â€" American Theater opens.
- 1945 â€" Cigar Factory labor strike; singing of We Shall Overcome.[2][3]
- 1947 â€" Historic Charleston Foundation established.
- 1949 â€" Johnson Hagood Stadium opens.
- 1950 â€" Ashley Theatre opens.
- 1951 â€" The Links Charleston chapter founded.
- 1953 â€" WCSC-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
- 1954 â€" WUSN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
- 1957 â€" Fraser Elementary School opens.
- 1959 â€" J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr. becomes mayor.
- 1964 â€" Porter-Gaud School formed.
- 1966 â€" New Cooper River Bridge opens.
- 1968 â€" Pinehaven Cinema and Gateway Drive-In cinema open.
- 1969 â€" March 20: Charleston Hospital Strike begins.
- 1970
- Port Drive-In cinema opens.
- Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site established.
- 1972 â€" City of North Charleston incorporated, adjacent to City of Charleston.
- 1973 â€" Trident Technical College established.
- 1975 â€" Joseph P. Riley, Jr. becomes mayor.
- 1977 â€" Spoleto Festival USA begins.
- 1980
- Charleston Royals baseball team founded.
- Population: 69,510.
- 1981 â€" Citadel Mall in business.
- 1983 â€" Lowcountry Food Bank[4] and sister city relationship with Spoleto, Italy established.
- 1985 â€" College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture established.
- 1989 â€" Hurricane Hugo.
- 1990 â€" Waterfront Park created.
- 1991 â€" Melvin's BBQ in business.
- 1992 â€" Charleston Grill in business.
- 1993
- North Charleston Coliseum opens.
- Charleston Battery soccer team founded.
- 1994 â€" Charleston Tibetan Society founded.
- 1995
- Mark Sanford becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.
- Sunken civil war-era submarine Hunley rediscovered offshore.
- 1996
- 100 Black Men of Charleston established.
- City website online (approximate date).
- 1997
- Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority formed.
- Charleston City Paper begins publication.
- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park stadium opens.
- 2000 â€" South Carolina Aquarium opens.
21st century
- 2003 â€" Charleston School of Law established.
- 2004 â€" Charleston Comedy Festival begins.
- 2005 â€" Cooper River Bridge opens.
- 2006 â€" Central Mosque of Charleston founded.
- 2007
- Old Slave Mart museum opens.
- Sofa Super Store fire.
- 2008 â€" TD Arena and Meeting Street Academy [5] open.
- 2010
- Husk restaurant in business.
- The Charleston Promise Neighborhood incorporated.
- Population: 120,083.
- 2011 â€" Tim Scott becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.
- 2015
- June 17: Nine people are killed, including the senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, by Dylann Roof, in the Charleston church shooting.
- June 26: Funeral of Clementa Pinckney; U.S. President Barack Obama delivers eulogy.
See also
- History of Charleston, South Carolina
- List of mayors of Charleston, South Carolina
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina
- Media in Charleston, South Carolina
- List of museums in Charleston, South Carolina
- Charleston, South Carolina in the American Civil War
Other cities in South Carolina:
- Timeline of Columbia, South Carolina
References
Bibliography
External links
- "Timeline". Charleston Multimedia Project. Charleston: Charleston County Public Library.Â
- Harlan Greene. "Charleston". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina.Â
- "South Carolina Room". Charleston County Public Library. (Local history)
- "Charleston Archive". Charleston County Public Library. (Blog)
- Maps of Charleston, S.C., various dates 18thâ€"19th century (via Boston Public Library)
- Items related to Charleston, S.C., various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).