Timeline of Charleston, South Carolina facts for kids

The following is a timeline of the history of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

Prior to the 1700s

• 1680 – Settlement of English immigrants, mostly from Barbados, relocates from Albemarle Point to site of future Charles Town.
• 1681 – St. Philip's Episcopal Church founded.

1700s

• 1708 – 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 – Town renamed "Charlestown" (approximate date).
• 1729 – St. Andrew's Society founded.
• 1732 – South Carolina Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1734 – South Carolina Jockey Club constituted.
• 1736 – Dock Street Theatre opens.
• 1737 – South-Carolina Society founded.
• 1739 – Stono Rebellion of slaves occurs near Charleston.
• 1740 – Fire.
• 1743 – Armory built.
• 1745 – Town gate rebuilt.
• 1748 – Charleston Library Society organized.
• 1750 – Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim founded.
• 1752 – September: Hurricane.
• 1761 – 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 – Town becomes part of Charleston District.
• 1770 – Population: 11,000.
• 1771 – Royal Exchange built.
• 1773 – Museum founded by the Charleston Library Society.
• 1774 – Charleston Tea Party protest.
• 1780 – Siege of Charleston.
• 1782 – December 14: British occupation ends.
• 1783
  • Town renamed "Charleston."
  • Charter received.
  • Richard Hutson becomes mayor.
  • City Guard organized.
• 1784 – Scotch Presbyterian church incorporated.
• 1786
  • March: State capital moves from Charleston to Columbia.
  • South Carolina Golf Club founded.
• 1788 – Charleston becomes part of the new US state of South Carolina.
• 1789 – Medical Society of South Carolina founded.
• 1790
  • College of Charleston opens.
  • Population: 16,359.
• 1791 – Roman Catholic Church of Charleston incorporated.
• 1792
  • Charleston Orphan Asylum founded.
  • Washington Race Course opens.
• 1794 – Charleston Mechanic Society and Brown Benevolent Society founded.
• 1797 – South Carolina Weekly Museum (magazine) begins publication.
• 1798 – Bank of South Carolina established.
• 1799 – Yellow fever outbreak.

1800s

1800s–1850s

• 1800
  • Santee Canal (Columbia-Charleston) built.
  • Population: 18,824.
  • Charleston has largest Jewish population of any city in the US.
• 1801 – Hibernian Society founded.
• 1803 – Courier newspaper begins publication.
• 1806 – Franklin Library Society founded.
• 1807 – Washington Light Infantry founded.
• 1810
  • Castle Pinckney built.
  • Population: 24,711.
• 1813 – Literary and Philosophical Society of South Carolina founded.
• 1815 – Religious Tract Society of Charleston organized.
• 1816 – 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 – 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 – Population: 30,289.
• 1833 – Charleston-Hamburg railroad begins operating.
• 1839
  • Charleston Hotel built.
  • St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church built.
• 1840 – Population: 29,261.
• 1841
  • Market Hall built.
  • Charleston Arsenal built.
• 1843 – South Carolina Military Academy opens.
• 1847 – Shearith Israel synagoguge built.
• 1849 – 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 – Museum founded by the College of Charleston.
• 1853 – 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 – South Carolina Historical Society founded.
• 1856 – Ryan's Mart slave market established.
• 1858 – Carolina Art Association established.
• 1859 – Charleston Marine School opens.

1860s–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 – 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
  • July–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 – 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 – Porter Military Academy formed.
• 1868 – January 14: State constitutional convention held in Charleston.
• 1869 – Carolina Rifle Club organized.
• 1870
  • Charleston Female Seminary established.
  • Savannah and Charleston Railroad reopened.
  • Magnolia Gardens opens.
  • Population: 48,956.
• 1872 – St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church built.
• 1879 – United States Custom House built.
• 1880 – Population: 49,984.
• 1882 – City of Charleston Fire Department and Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church established.
• 1883 – Samuel Dibble becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.
• 1884 – Robert Smalls becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district.
• 1886 – August 31: The 6.9–7.3 Mw Charleston earthquake shakes South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people were killed and damage totalled $5–6 million.
• 1889 – William Enston Homes built.
• 1890
  • East Shore Terminal Company formed.
  • Population: 54,955.
• 1891 – Central Baptist Church built.
• 1893 – August: 1893 Charleston Hurricane.
• 1895 – Century Club for women organized.
• 1896 – United States Post Office and Courthouse built.
• 1899 – Charleston City Federation of Women's Clubs organized.

1900s

• 1900 – Population: 55,807.
• 1901 – South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition opens.
• 1903 – Charleston Terminal Company created.
• 1906 – Hampton Park created.
• 1907
  • Union Station built.
  • Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist opens.
• 1908 – Gaud School established.
• 1909– Ashley Hall established
• 1910 – Population: 58,833.
• 1911 – People's Office Building constructed.
• 1912
  • Carolina Arts and Crafts incorporated.
  • Read Brothers store established.
• 1913 – Charleston Library Society building constructed.
• 1917 – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Charleston branch established.
• 1918 – Garden Theatre built.
• 1920
  • Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings founded.
  • Lincoln Theatre opens.
• 1927 – Gloria Theatre opens.
• 1929 – John P. Grace Memorial Bridge opens.
• 1930 – Charleston County Library established.
• 1931 – Footlight Players theatre group formed.
• 1937 – Dock Street Theatre opens.
• 1938 – September 20: Tornado.
• 1940 – August: 1940 South Carolina hurricane.
• 1942 – American Theater opens.
• 1945 – Cigar Factory labor strike; singing of We Shall Overcome.[2][3]
• 1947 – Historic Charleston Foundation established.
• 1949 – Johnson Hagood Stadium opens.
• 1950 – Ashley Theatre opens.
• 1951 – The Links Charleston chapter founded.
• 1957 – Fraser Elementary School opens.
• 1959 – J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr. becomes mayor.
• 1964 – Porter-Gaud School formed.
• 1966 – New Cooper River Bridge opens.
• 1968 – Pinehaven Cinema and Gateway Drive-In cinema open.
• 1969 – March 20: Charleston Hospital Strike begins.
• 1970
  • Port Drive-In cinema opens.
  • Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site established.
• 1972 – City of North Charleston incorporated, adjacent to City of Charleston.
• 1973 – Trident Technical College established.
• 1975 – Joseph P. Riley, Jr. becomes mayor.
• 1977 – Spoleto Festival USA begins.
• 1980
  • Charleston Royals baseball team founded.
  • Population: 69,510.
• 1981 – Citadel Mall in business.
• 1983 – Lowcountry Food Bank[4] and sister city relationship with Spoleto, Italy established.
• 1985 – College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture established.
• 1989 – Hurricane Hugo.
• 1990 – Waterfront Park created.
• 1991 – Melvin's BBQ in business.
• 1992 – Charleston Grill in business.
• 1993
  • North Charleston Coliseum opens.
  • Charleston Battery soccer team founded.
• 1994 – 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.

2000s

• 2000 – South Carolina Aquarium opens.
• 2003 – Charleston School of Law established.
• 2004 – Charleston Comedy Festival begins.
• 2005 – Cooper River Bridge opens.
• 2006 – Central Mosque of Charleston founded.
• 2007
  • Old Slave Mart museum opens.
  • Sofa Super Store fire.
• 2008 – TD Arena and Meeting Street Academy [5] open.
• 2010
  • Husk restaurant in business.
  • The Charleston Promise Neighborhood incorporated.
  • Population: 120,083.
• 2011 – 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.