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Profile for Charleston, South Carolina, SC

Beach pavilion at Isle of Palms, Charleston, SC

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Charleston is a city in Charleston County. (The community straddles Charleston and Berkeley counties; ePodunk links to the county with the greater share of population.)

It is the county seat.

The community was named for King Charles II of England

The latitude of Charleston is 32.776N. The longitude is -79.931W.

It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 20 feet.

The estimated population, in 2003, was 101,024.

INCOME SNAPSHOT

Median household income

Local

$35,295

National

$41,994

Source: 2000 census, U.S. Census Bureau

For more census details and comparisons, see our Charleston demographic reports

ESSENTIALS

HOUSING:
  Find Foreclosure
  Local homes for sale
LODGING:
  Nearby hotels
PEOPLE:
  Charleston family histories
RECORDS:
  Birth, marriage & death
  Court, land & probate
  Military

Charleston is on the Ashley and Cooper rivers and the Atlantic Ocean.

Charleston was colonial America?s largest and most prosperous metropolis south of Philadelphia, and its major southern port.

The Civil War began here with the attack on Union forces at Fort Sumter, in the harbor.

The local economy took a huge hit in 1996, with the closure of Charleston Naval Base. Thousands of civilian and military jobs were lost.

Government and business worked together, with significant success, to replace the lost Navy jobs. The warm climate and busy port have helped attract many new companies to the region.

Public transportation: Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (See the transit and travel sections below.)

Crime: The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 879. The number of murders and homicides was 15. The violent crime rate was 8.8 per 1,000 people.

Selected by AARP magazine in 2003 as No. 6 among the "15 Best Places to Reinvent Your Life."

Charleston received national attention for 1995 court decision ordering woman's admission to the Citadel, state military school

Local foods: she-crab soup

Filming location for:
· 1939 movie, "Gone With the Wind"
· 2000 movie, "The Patriot"
· 2004 movie, "The Notebook"

Well-known residents have included:
· Angelina and Sarah Grimk?, abolitionists
· Darius Rucker, lead singer with Hootie and the Blowfish
· Art Shell, football player
· Septima Clark, teacher and civil rights activist

More well-known residents

Coffee: National and regional coffee companies with outlets here include Starbucks

More info about local coffee quotients

Local festivals include:

Piccolo Spoleto Festival - May 27-June 10, 2007
Maritime Festival - May 17-20, 2007
Festival Hispano - Sept. 30, 2007
ChazzFest - Sept. 22, 2007
Moja Arts Festival - Sept. 28-Oct. 7, 2007
Lowcountry Blues Bash - Feb. 9-18, 2007
CariFest - June 23, 2007
Shrimp Harvest Festival - Sept. 22, 2007

Dates often change. Check Charleston web sites and events links in the sections below.

Send us festival info for Charleston

Performing arts: Charleston Symphony Orchestra

Charleston attractions: White Point Gardens, South Carolina Aquarium

Sports teams: RiverDogs (minor league baseball), Battery (USL soccer)

Historic sites and museums: Charleston Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, American Military Museum, Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, Fort Sumter National Monument

Colleges and universities: Charleston Southern University, College of Charleston, The Citadel, Medical University of South Carolina, ECPI College of Technology-Charleston

More colleges info

Support for libraries: Local government funding for the local library system, in fiscal years 2001-2002, was above the national average. (See library links below.)

Gays & lesbians
National index: 100
Local index: 117

More info

Quotes:
The story in Charleston is that money has begun to come back to some of the old families; and money, it is said, has become a motive where once people were content with the antiquity of a name.
-- A Turn in the South
V.S. Naipaul

More quotes

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Profile for Charleston, South Carolina, SC

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