West Ashley, or more formally, west of the Ashley, is one of the six distinct areas of the city proper of Charleston, South Carolina. As of July 2022, its estimated population was 83,996. [1] Its name is derived from the fact that the land is west of the Ashley River.
The first neighborhoods west of the Ashley were developed in the postwar period of the 1950s. The area is flanked by the scenic waterfront vistas and marshes of the Ashley and Stono rivers and ancient moss-draped oak trees. The largest residential and business development took place during the 1970s and 1980s, following suburban highway development that eased commuting. [ citation needed ]. As Interstate 526 (I-526) was built in the early 1980s, and the South Carolina Highway 461 (SC 461 (Glenn McConnell Parkway) was built in the 1990s to accommodate traffic on the historic SC 61 (Ashley River Road) corridor, explosive residential and commercial growth took place in the area. Major retailers located in this community as the large plots of land needed for "big box" stores was not available on the historic downtown Charleston peninsula[ citation needed ].
West Ashley's original neighborhoods line (U.S. Route 17 (US 17; Savannah Highway)) in an area closest to the historic Charleston peninsula. The earliest retail district, built in the 1950s, is being revitalized, attracting many art and design-oriented businesses in the early 21st century.[ citation needed ].
The community's major arteries include SC 7 (Sam Rittenberg Boulevard), SC 61 (Ashley River Road), US 17 (Savannah Highway), SC 461 (Paul Cantrell Boulevard/Glenn McConnell Parkway), and I-526[ citation needed ]. It also is served by the West Ashley Greenway, a popular rail trail that parallels Savannah Highway[ citation needed ].
West Ashley is home to Citadel Mall, the region's largest indoor shopping mall[ citation needed ] and Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. These two constitute major employers of the region.[ citation needed ]. WCSC-TV Channel 5, the area's CBS affiliate and first television station to sign on the air in Charleston in 1953, moved to a newly constructed broadcast facility in West Ashley in 1997[ citation needed ]. West Ashley has an independent weekly community newspaper titled West Of, which publishes news pertaining to the area [ citation needed ].
West Ashley is not a self-governed city or town. The majority of the area west of the Ashley is located within the city limits of Charleston. A few remaining pockets in unincorporated Charleston County are served by the Saint Andrews Public Service District, which provides municipal services for areas outside the city limits[ citation needed ].
West Ashley is noted as the birthplace of Charleston, where English colonists established the first permanent settlement in the Carolina colony at Albemarle Point in 1670. [2] [3] Local Native Americans, particularly the Kiawah, led the colonists from the ship Carolina to a suitable settling ground.[ citation needed ] It is believed that the Indians welcomed the colonists, in the hope they might provide defense against the constant raids by the slaving Westo Indians from Georgia (originally known as the Erie).[ citation needed ] The original settlement, which was built in an unorganized manner, built fortifications early on due to fears of an invasion by the Spanish. [4] In 1680, the settlement was moved to the Charleston peninsula, in between the Ashley and Cooper rivers. [5] The 663-acre (2.68 km2) area of the original settlement's location has been preserved as a state historic site known as Charles Towne Landing. [6]
A few skirmishes took place there in the American Revolution during which time parts of the area faced occupation by British forces, [2] specifically at Rantowles Creek, where William Washington defeated cavalry forces under Banastre Tarleton, and at Old St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church during the 1780 Siege of Charleston conducted by the British. Thousands of slaves escaped to British lines and some fought with the British, qualifying for freedom and evacuation with their troops when the British withdrew from the colony.[ citation needed ]
For much of its history, West Ashley had a focus primarily on agriculture, hosting several slave plantations prior to the Civil War. [2]
Some military activity took place here during the Civil War. The area had several batteries, including those at Fort Bull (near present-day Bees Ferry Road), but no major battles occurred[ citation needed ]. Sherman's forces did burn down Middleton Place Plantation in the 1865 march to the sea. The Charleston and Savannah Railway extended from downtown to West Ashley during the 19th century, and the Union had attempted to cut it off in 1864, but were beaten back at the Battle of Burden's Causeway on nearby Johns Island [ citation needed ].
West Ashley also includes the historic location of Maryville, a defunct town. Originally chartered in 1886 and incorporated in 1888, [7] Maryville included the site of the original English settlement, now the site of Charles Towne Landing State Historic Park, and a plantation owned by the Lords Proprietors. Land at the former plantation site was divided and sold to African-American residents in the late 1880s. Following the death of her husband, Mary Mathews Just purchased land at the site of the former Hillsborough Plantation and named Maryville for herself. [8] In the year following its incorporation, Maryville was reported as having "two churches, four stores, and seventy houses, which have been erected in two years. Six hundred and forty-four building lots sold in three years." [7] The town's elected council held regular meetings to elect members, address public building projects, and raise taxes to pay for necessary infrastructure. Notable town buildings and public spaces included a two-story police station and town hall, the Frederick Demming Jr. Industrial School for Blacks, and Invincible Park. Invincible Park housed a pavilion and hosted many events, including dances and concerts. [7] The South Carolina General Assembly revoked the town's charter in 1936 despite its success as a model for African-American "self government." [8]
Ashley Hall Plantation and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [9]
The community formerly served by two public high schools is now served by one, West Ashley High School, with 2017 students and 135 full-time teachers. West Ashley High School was created by the merging of Middleton and St. Andrews high schools. [10] There are also seven public elementary schools (Drayton Hall, Springfield, St. Andrews School of Math and Science, Oakland, Stono Park, Orange Grove, and Ashley River Creative Arts), and four public middle schools (C.E. Williams, Orange Grove, Montessori Community School, and West Ashley). Among the numerous private schools in the West Ashley area are Porter-Gaud School, a K-12 grade college preparatory school founded in 1867. [11]
Charleston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had a population of 150,277 at the 2020 census. The 2020 population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 799,636 residents. It ranks as the third-largest metropolitan statistical area in the state, the 8th-largest in the Deep South and the 74th-largest in the United States.
Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 408,235, making it the third most populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Charleston. It is also the largest county in the state by total area, although Horry County has a larger land area. The county was created in 1800 by an act of the South Carolina State Legislature.
The Stono Rebellion was a slave revolt that began on 9 September 1739, in the colony of South Carolina. It was the largest slave rebellion in the Southern Colonies, with 25 colonists and 35 to 50 African slaves killed. The uprising's leaders were likely from the Central African Kingdom of Kongo, as they were Catholic and some spoke Portuguese.
The College of Charleston is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the oldest municipal college in the nation.
The Ashley River is a blackwater and tidal river in South Carolina, rising from the Wassamassaw and Great Cypress Swamps in western Berkeley County. It consolidates its main channel about five miles west of Summerville, widening into a tidal estuary just south of Fort Dorchester. The river then flows for approximately 17 mi (27 km) along the historical banks of the City of North Charleston before reaching peninsular Charleston. The much wider Ashley joins the Cooper River off the Battery in Charleston to form Charleston Harbor before discharging into the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2012 the land around the Ashley River is mostly undeveloped.
Interstate 526 (I-526) is a 19.56-mile (31.48 km) auxiliary route of I-26, providing a partial beltway around Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States. The route serves several purposes, firstly, as a bypass for through traffic on U.S. Route 17 (US 17) to avoid downtown Charleston, and, secondly, for traffic on I-26 bound for the coastal towns located north and south of Charleston. The route is not yet complete, as the western terminus it is planned for the route to be extended an additional 10 miles (16 km). After the eastern terminus, the roadway continues as a short business route, known as Interstate 526 Business.
Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation house located on the Ashley River about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston, west of the Ashley in the Lowcountry. An example of Palladian architecture in North America and the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact through both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, it is a National Historic Landmark.
Johns Island is an island in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, and is the largest island in the state of South Carolina. Johns Island is bordered by the Wadmalaw, Seabrook, Kiawah, Edisto, Folly, and James islands; the Stono and Kiawah rivers separate Johns Island from its border islands. It is the fourth-largest island on the US east coast, surpassed only by Long Island, Mount Desert Island and Martha's Vineyard. Johns Island is 84 square miles (220 km2) in area, with a population of 21,500.
South Carolina Highway 61 (SC 61) is a 67-mile-long (108 km) state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The highway is designated on a north–south direction, but physically travels in an east–west direction, from SC 30 in Charleston to U.S. Route 78 (US 78) near Branchville. The portion of SC 61 from Church Creek Bridge and 10 miles (16 km) north is designated a National Scenic Byway.
Middleton Place is a plantation in Dorchester County, along the banks of the Ashley River west of the Ashley and about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of downtown Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Built in several phases during the 18th and 19th centuries, the plantation was the primary residence of several generations of the Middleton family, many of whom played prominent roles in the colonial and antebellum history of South Carolina. The plantation, now a National Historic Landmark District, is used as a museum, and is home to the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States.
Ashley Landing is a shopping mall in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It was the first indoor shopping mall in the West Ashley area of Charleston when the complex was fully completed in 1972. The center, located at 1401 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard at the fork of Old Towne Road was developed by Gate City Realty Company of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ground was broken for the complex in 1962 with Ashley Plaza opening on April 16, 1964. At its opening the shopping center consisted of J.M. Fields Department Stores joined to a Pantry Pride supermarket, built at a cost of $1.75 million and owned by Sumar Corporation of South Carolina. The locally owned Condon's Department Store, constructed adjacent to Pantry Pride as a freestanding building, became the third tenant when it opened in 1970. The center, originally known as "Ashley Plaza" was noted for its large red and white neon pylon "Ashley Plaza" sign in the center of the parking lot that remained until 1989 when it was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo.
Ashley River Historic District is a historic district located west of the Ashley in the South Carolina Lowcountry in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The Historic District includes land from five municipalities, almost equally split between Charleston and Dorchester counties. The district includes dry land, swamps, and marshes of the Rantowles Creek and Stono Swamp watershed.
The John F. Limehouse Memorial Bridge, located about 15 miles (24 km) west of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, was completed in 2003. It replaced an obsolete low-level swing bridge over the Stono River. The current bridge, which crosses a channel between Johns Island and St. Andrews Parish, an area generally called West Ashley, was completed under a partnership between the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and the United States Coast Guard.
Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site in the West Ashley area of Charleston, South Carolina preserves the original site of the first permanent English settlement in Carolina. Originally opened in 1970 to commemorate South Carolina's tricentennial, this 664-acre (269 ha) site is home to an exhibit hall, rental facility, a natural habitat zoo, ongoing archeological excavations, miles of trails, dozens of picnic tables, a replica tall ship, six fireable replica cannon, and much more.
Hampton Park is a public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina, United States. At 60 acres (240,000 m2), it is the largest park on the peninsula. It is bordered by The Citadel to the west, Hampton Park Terrace to the south, North Central to the east, and Wagener Terrace to the north. The park is named in honor of Confederate General Wade Hampton III who, at the time of the Civil War, owned one of the largest collections of slaves in the South. After the Civil War, Hampton became a proponent of the Lost Cause movement, member of the Red Shirts and governor of South Carolina.
The Fenwick Hall, which is also known as Fenwick Castle, is a plantation house built about 1730 on Johns Island, South Carolina, across the Stono River from James Island and Charleston. It is located between River Road and Penneys Creek. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972.
William Bull was a colonial American landowner and politician in the Province of South Carolina.
South Carolina Highway 700 (SC 700) is a 20.380-mile (32.798 km) state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Known for most of its length as Maybank Highway, the state highway travels from a dead end in Rockville east to U.S. Route 17 (US 17) in Charleston. SC 700 connects Charleston with James Island, Johns Island, and Wadmalaw Island in southwestern Charleston County.
The architecture of Charleston, the largest city in the US state of South Carolina, has English and Barbadian influences.
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