The Charleston Historic District, alternatively known as Charleston Old and Historic District, is a National Historic Landmark District in Charleston, South Carolina.[1][4] The district, which covers most of the historic peninsular heart of the city, contains an unparalleled collection of 18th and 19th-century architecture, including many distinctive Charleston "single houses". It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[3]
As noted by the New York Preservation Archive Project, the Charleston Old and Historic District's creation in 1931 established "the first historic district protected by local legislation in the United States and inspired legal protection of historic sites in New York City."[5] It is legally set up in the city's regulations.[6] According to Charleston's interactive zoning map, the "Old District" runs south from east-west Fishburne and Line streets.[7] The National Historic Landmark-designated district is smaller, running south from Bee Street.[8]
The city of Charleston was founded in 1670, with its main historic colonial heart laid out in 1680 on the peninsula at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. Since that time, the city has been a major commercial and trade center on the southeastern seaboard of North America. Its architecture reflects numerous significant periods of development, with high-quality examples of different architectural styles resulting from the city's continued importance through more than 300 years of history. Significant among these are the many Charleston "single houses", which are typically a single room in depth, and oriented with the short access toward the street, with the entrance area on a long side. These types of houses are built using all types of building materials, including wood, brick, and stucco. In Ansonborough, there are blocks of fine Greek Revival houses, built in the wake of an 1838 fire.[8]
Broad Street, a major east–west thoroughfare since the early days, is home to a fine collection of Federal period houses, many of which have been converted to commercial uses. It is also where a number of important early civic and institutional buildings are located, including the 1752 St. Michael's Episcopal Church, the 1767 Exchange, and the 1792 Charleston County Courthouse.[8]
The city of Charleston legislatively established the "Old and Historic District" as a local historic district. In 1960, a portion of this district was designated a National Historic Landmark District for its architectural significance. When initially listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, the district was defined as "An area roughly bounded by Broad, Bay, S. Battery and Ashley and an area along Church bounded by Cumberland and Chalmers".[2] Significant boundary enlargements of the National Register district in 1970 and 1978 have resulted in it now coinciding with the locally legislated district, extending in parts as far north as Calhoun Street. The 1978 version was defined as incorporating "most of area S of Bee, Morris, and Mary Sts. to Waterfront."[2]
The district was enlarged to add individual buildings in 1984, 1985 and 1986.[9]
NARA version of "Charleston Historic District" is very different, is missing core documents. Includes maps of 1931 designated (portion which became NHL), of later addition to NHL, and of 1960 designated which was NRHP-listed. Includes correspondence, photos, more.[10]
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Charleston is home to "Charleston Single" homes in which you walk in the front door to a porch.
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks.
Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, archaeological resources, or other properties as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects, and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts vary greatly in size and composition: a historic district could comprise an entire neighborhood with hundreds of buildings, or a smaller area with just one or a few resources.
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district significant. Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was enacted in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina.
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