College of Charleston's 250th Anniversary Tour

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the College, we present this tour of the College of Charleston’s historic campus in downtown Charleston. Founded in 1770, this premiere liberal arts institution was the country's first municipal college and is now part of the state system. Our tour gives special attention to people formerly excluded from the campus, and buildings and sites that no longer exist, while also highlighting the College's present diversity.


For in-person visitors seeking a self-guided tour of our campus, each site on this tour has been marked with a Discovering Our Past medallion. An audio version of each story, voiced by Professor Joy Vandervort-Cobb, can be found with the images accompanying many of the stories.


After 2020, new stories were added to the tour under the direction of the College's Committee on Commemoration and Landscapes.

The story of the land that encompasses the College or Charleston campus reflects the history of the city. The peninsula of Charleston was home to Native Americans long before the first permanent European settlers arrived in 1670. As soon as they entered the harbor, the first settlers saw a large…
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This building, originally a private residence, and now the home of the College’s Department of Communication, was the site of the Book Basement, a store run by two of Charleston’s most significant gay men of the middle of the 20th century. Originally constructed circa 1835 and owned by Abiel…
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Today this handsome Georgian mansion with the garden around it serves as the President’s House; it was also the home of the College’s first president over 200 years ago. The land on which it stands was granted in 1672 to one of the colony’s original settlers, John Coming, whose name is remembered…
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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 of the landscape, but property records, city directories, and images record the diversity of the old neighborhood.
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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 Charleston’s thriving arts community.
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250th Anniversary Historical Documentation Committee: Julia Eichelberger, Harlan Greene, Ron Menchaca, co-chairs
Researchers: Sarah Fick, Grayson Harris, Erik Cronell, Keyasia Pride
Website Curator: Grayson Harris

Special thanks for assistance with information, images, and permissions: Aaisha Haykal and Daron Calhoun, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture; Melissa Mabry, Catholic Diocese of Charleston; Reference Librarians at College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library; John Morris and Michael Turner, College of Charleston Facilities Management; Meredith Perrone, College of Charleston Marketing and Communications; College of Charleston Office of Information Technology; Melantha Ardrey, College of Charleston Office of Residence Life; Mary Jo Fairchild, Sam Stewart, and Staff at College of Charleston’s Special Collections and South Carolina Historical Society;; Karen Emmons, Historic Charleston Foundation; Sarah Tignor, The Johnson Collection; Leah Worthington, Lowcountry Digital History Initiative; Preservation Society of Charleston. We also benefited from research done by students in C of C classes in English, Historic Preservation and Community Planning, History, Women’s and Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Southern Studies.

Website reviewers during Spring 2020: Jen Baker, Kris DeWelde, Adam Domby, Rachel Donaldson, Mary Jo Fairchild, Valerie Frazier, Renard Harris, Aaisha Haykal, Joe Kelly, Simon Lewis, Charissa Owens, Katherine Pemberton, Bernard Powers, Dale Rosengarten, Barry Stiefel, Michael Turner, Liz Whitworth.

This site will be updated as new information becomes available. If you have additional images or information to contribute to this tour, please contact us at discoveringourpast-group@cofc.edu.