The most recent site on this tour, a state historical marker, was unveiled on Jan. 30, 2020, exactly 250 years after the Lieutenant Governor of colonial South Carolina proposed a college for Charleston. With this marker and a number of research…

If walls could speak, they could tell quite a tale. But the land of the College Campus, predating all our buildings, has quite a history, too. The story of the land that encompasses the College or Charleston campus reflects the history of the…

Although a single plot of College property today, for generations this block consisted of a number of privately owned parcels, each with stories of their own. Schools, a synagogue, and residences for black and white Charlestonians are no longer part…

Forming the nucleus of the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts, the Simons Center for the Arts and The Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, house art studios, galleries and performance spaces that serve as an integral part of…

Towell Library, dedicated in 1856, served as the College of Charleston’s library until 1972. The building is a National Historic Landmark and is one of three historic structures in the College’s iconic Cistern Yard. The College of Charleston owes it…

Completing the design of Cistern Yard, this symbolic entrance to the College has also housed janitors, student clubs, and faculty offices. Its arches welcome incoming students and community members to campus and usher new graduates out at the end of…

Cistern Yard is the heart of the College of Charleston campus, serving as a green space for generations of students and as a venue for convocation, spring commencement, concerts and other events. Shaded by giant live oaks and enclosed by iron…

Decorated with elaborate ironwork and a distinctive cupola, this house was built in 1872 for A.O. Jones, African American and clerk of the South Carolina House of Representatives during Reconstruction. The College first owned this property from 1770…

Since purchasing the house in 1901, the College has used it as a residence hall, faculty apartments, barracks, fencing court, lab and offices. Ill-treated by student residents in the early 20th century, the house was known as “The Shack.” This…

The land occupied by the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library and Rivers Green has had a complex social, gay, religious and African American history. Located at the southwest corner of Calhoun and Coming streets, The Marlene and Nathan…