Look Up, Charleston! A Walking Tour of Charleston, South Carolina: Business District

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

Charleston sits on a narrow peninsula where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet as they flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The community named for King Charles of England was established in 1670, became the center of the Carolina colony, the eighth state to join the Union, and the cultural center of the antebellum South. Charleston was the destination for peoples throughout Europe, Africa, and the Carribean, who have collectively shaped this unique region.

The new city was originally contained inside a wall, located south and east of today’s business district, until 1720 but was soon bursting out of its protective cocoon as it grew into the fourth largest city in the American colonies. The peninsula soon filled with businesses, churches, schools and some of the most impressive residences thus seen on these shores.

This walking tour will begin at the intersection of th eprimary north-south street in Charleston, Meeting Street and the commercial axis along Market Street where a bustling market operates much as it did more than 200 years ago...