Master Preservationist Program-Day Four. Analyzing the Architecture

Master Preservationist Program-Day Four. Analyzing the Architecture

Meeting Street blows my mind. While I always make it a point to look up and around in the midst of my daily hustle bustle, I never realized how much spectacular architecture graces its length. From South Battery up past Calhoun St – it is not the number of buildings that surprised me, but the tremendous journey through architectural styles that does....

Master Preservationist Program-Day Three. Getting in the Guts

Bricks. I discovered I have a fascination with bricks – the patterns, the mortar, the construction….But more on that later. On Day 3 of the Master Preservationist Program, we studied Building Technology, or as I like to call it, “getting in the guts.” One of the purposes of studying building technology is so you can better understand the various parts...

Master Preservationist Program-Day Two. Unearthing a Civilization

I’d like to preempt this post with a disclaimer. You may find me getting on a little bit of a soapbox toward the end, but I promise it won’t hurt too much. 🙂 And so…the topic of study for our second day of the Master Preservationist Program was Archaeology. Typically most of us think of preservation as having to do...

Master Preservationist Program-Day One. Charting Charleston’s Past

In our first day of the Master Preservationist Program we spent our classroom session taking a look at Charleston’s maps since 1685. As I am very much a map person, my eyes were glued to the screen with rapt attention and I furiously took notes. Then the second half we visited 54 Tradd St and the Heyward-Washington House. Skip to...

Master Preservationist Program – What We’ll Be Learning

If you read my monthly newsletter, you know that I am thrilled to have been invited to be part of the Preservation Society of Charleston’s Master Preservationist Pilot Program. Together with 19 other people from all walks of life, I’ll be testing out the first iteration of this program, with more to come. The Master Preservationist Program was established, in...

I Used to Live in a House of Ill Repute

One of the best things about living in downtown Charleston is that not only are you surrounded by history all the time, but you also live in it too. Sometimes the locale can be of honorable historic significance, other times – not so much. One of my earlier homes in Charleston was a former brothel on Fulton St, next to...

Venturing into the Unknown – A Walk Through Charleston’s History at Magnolia Cemetery

This past Labor Day weekend, Randy and I decided to take a bike ride to a place neither of us knew of, inspired by a mention of it in the new “My Charleston” a magazine-like publication of the Post and Courier. Magnolia Cemetery, just off the beaten path in “The Neck” area of the Peninsula, is home to a 128-acre...

Historic King Street in 1915

A friend of mine unearthed this great photo yesterday and I had to post it. Check out the trolley lines and the lights across the street. It’s amazing how much it looks the same, yet completely different. I do love it without cars and the sidewalks seem wider. Thanks to the site Shorpy for having this photo – they get...

So what in the world is a Cistern?

Here in Charleston, when you say THE Cistern – everyone knows you are referring to the place in the center of the College of Charleston campus where they have concerts and the famed graduation ceremony where all the graduates wear white. The Cistern there was actually constructed in 1857 as a reservoir to provide water for fighting fires in the...

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