Cooper’s History Blog
We love giving walking tours in Charleston, but our passion for sharing the city’s past continues far beyond just the streets. It continues on our history blog. If you’ve ever taken a history tour with Cooper you know the boy likes to talk about history. On his blog, he dives even deeper into Charleston’s fascinating stories, offering fresh perspectives and exploring topics that bring this historic city to life.
Whether you’re a seasoned history enthusiast or just starting to explore Charleston’s past, this blog is a treasure trove of information. For even more resources, check out the Video Blog, Just Ask Eric, where former city historian Eric Write unravels the city’s intricate narratives, or if you like to read, explore our curated Reading List, perfect for deepening your understanding of Charleston’s dynamic history.
Whether it’s walking the streets of Charleston or compiling information, our mission is to transport you back in time, sharing the untold stories and lesser-known facts that make Charleston a unique blend of charm and complexity. Explore the past with us, both on foot and through the pages of Cooper’s history blog, and discover why Charleston remains an intriguing symbol of Southern history and culture.
Exploring the White House
The path to the modern White House is complicated, lengthy, and a bit unusual. The White House is more than the home of the president. It has been unfinished, burned, rebuilt, expanded, and modernized over more than two centuries. Here is how this symbol of power, resilience, and national identity has changed from a young republic’s executive mansion into the powerful symbol Americans know today.
The Great James Island experiment
In 1764, Charleston recorded its first export of cotton to England, proving that Carolina cotton had value in Atlantic markets. But that trade also exposed a weakness: South Carolinians shipped out raw fiber and then bought back finished cloth at a higher price. James Island entered that story in 1789, when Frances Ramage established what South Carolina now recognizes as the state’s first cotton mill.
Philip Simmons: The Legendary Blacksmith
In Charleston, beauty is often described in soft colors, hidden gardens, church steeples, and historic streets. Yet some of the city’s most unforgettable artistry is made of iron. At the center of that story stands Philip Simmons, a master blacksmith whose work helped define the look, spirit, and cultural memory of Charleston. More than a craftsman, Philip Simmons became a symbol of perseverance, creativity, and Black artistic legacy in the Lowcountry.
How Conflict Repeats in American History From Revolution to QAnon
American history is often told as a story of progress, but it can also be understood as a cycle of rising tension, hardened belief, and eventual conflict. Time and again, the United States has produced leaders and movements that turn fear into urgency, urgency into ideology, and ideology into public conflict. The names change, the technology changes, and the language changes, but the pattern remains familiar.
The Revolutionary War’s Declaration of Dependence
The revolutionary war in South Carolina was never as simple as Patriots versus Loyalists. In Charleston, especially, the conflict revealed a deep divide over what liberty actually meant. While Patriot leaders argued for independence, many residents of Charleston and the Lowcountry believed their future depended on remaining tied to Great Britain. Historians sometimes describe this mindset as a kind of Loyalist “Declaration of Dependence,” not because there was one formal document by that name, but more because many Loyalists defended political, military, and economic dependence on the British Crown.
General Beauregard Protecting Fort Sumter
Few names are as closely tied to the opening of the American Civil War as General P.G.T. Beauregard.
In Charleston, South Carolina, Beauregard became one of the most significant military leaders of the era, not simply because he commanded forces during a famous battle, but because he stood at the center of a turning point in American history. His time in Charleston placed him in direct control of the Confederate defenses surrounding Fort Sumter,
The Story of St Michaels in Charleston SC
In colonial Charleston, churches were more than places of worship—they were civic anchors, social stages, and symbols of stability in a fast-growing port city. St Michaels rose into that world as a public landmark and a community heartbeat. With its state-supported construction and its prominent “Governor’s Pew,” St Michaels reflected how closely religion, government, and public life were intertwined in the Lowcountry during the eighteenth century. Even today, the building’s materials, layout, and long-standing traditions preserve a living record of colonial Charleston’s priorities: order, craftsmanship, music, and reputation.
James Madison and the Con Man
For James Madison times were tough. America’s early republic had a problem it couldn’t embargo away: European war. As Britain and France battled, both sides harassed neutral U.S. shipping—seizing cargo and squeezing merchants—while the United States tried to stay out of trouble. Jefferson’s answer was the Embargo Act of 1807, a sweeping shutdown of overseas trade meant to punish Britain and France without firing a shot. It backfired.
But… How Did King Charles II Die?
Charleston, South Carolina is literally a name on the map that points back to King Charles II, the Restoration monarch honored when “Charlestowne” was founded in 1670 and later evolved into modern Charleston. When people ask me, “What did Charles the Second die of…,” they’re stepping into a story that feels half medical mystery and half cautionary tale: King Charles suffered a sudden collapse, then endured five days of aggressive 17th-century medicine—seizures, brief rallies that looked like recovery, and a steady slide into exhaustion—until he died on February 6, 1685.
Just Ask Eric Video History Blog
Charleston Tour Group has created a smart, two-lane way for people to fall in love with the city’s past. On one side is its in-person flagship, Chucktown Tours, where history comes alive on Charleston’s cobblestone streets. On the other is a powerful digital storytelling ecosystem—Cooper’s history blog and the Blueberry Tours Co/Op’s “Just Ask Eric” video history blog—offering two distinct ways to learn Charleston’s incredible history.
Alexander Hamilton was power hungry
Let’s take a closer look at Alexander Hamilton, one of the most complex and controversial figures among America’s Founding Fathers. Thanks largely to the wildly successful Broadway musical Hamilton, public awareness of Alexander Hamilton has surged in recent years. The show transformed a once academically familiar name into a pop-culture phenomenon. But beyond the music and mythology, who was Alexander Hamilton really—and why does he still matter today?
Charleston and Jenkin’s Ear
The War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739–1748) was fought between Great Britain and Spain, and it reached far beyond the decks of warships and the halls of Parliament. It mattered deeply to the British mainland colonies, especially Charleston, because it turned the American South into a real military frontier and made the Atlantic coastline feel suddenly vulnerable. If you’ve ever wondered why people in Charleston talked about Spain with such urgency in the 1740s, this war is a big part of the answer.
Charleston was full of spies
In 1775, as tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain reached a breaking point, colonial leaders turned to a new mechanism of local governance and enforcement known as the Committee of Safety. These committees emerged across the colonies as provisional governing bodies designed to maintain order, enforce revolutionary policies, and protect colonial interests in the absence of effective British authority. Nowhere was their influence more pronounced than in Charleston, where political power, economic control, and ideological conflict converged during the American Revolution.
Recruiting pirates in Charleston
A quick look at history reminds us just how fragile international alliances truly are. Nations that fight side by side in one war can find themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield the next. In the late 18th century, this reality played out dramatically along the American coastline—especially in Charleston—where foreign influence, political instability, and the recruitment of pirates nearly pulled the young United States into a global war.
The First National Bank of Charleston
In the early formation of the United States, the creation of the First National Bank of the United States was proposed and designed by Alexander Hamilton, whose influence on American financial history has been widely recognized throughout history. As part of his overall economic strategy, branches of the new bank were placed in several major cities across the nation. One of these branches was located in Charleston, where a structure that once housed this significant bank is known today as Charleston’s City Hall.
The Real Story Behind the South Carolina Flag
Before diving into why the South Carolina Flag lacks an official design, it’s important to understand the deep symbolism behind its imagery.
To understand the South Carolina Flag, we must return to the Revolutionary era. British officers of the 18th century wore a symbolic piece of medieval-style armor at their necks known as a gorget. This crescent-shaped device was a decorative evolution of the armor once worn by medieval knights, signaling authority, rank, and the officer’s role as commander. George Washington himself wore a gorget before 1776 as a visible marker of his status.
Who the hell is Aaron Burr?
We have all heard the name Aaron Burr and his famous duel with Alexander Hamilton, but few people truly understand why it echoes through American memory. In the early world of American politics—where ambition was expected but treachery was not—few figures reached the level of strategic manipulation, personal opportunism, and raw hunger for power that Aaron Burr displayed. His political rise, catastrophic fall, and the mysterious western expedition all reveal a man driven not by ideology but by the singular pursuit of influence.
Pan Am, Seaplanes, and Charleston’s City Marina
There have long been stories circulating in Charleston about elegant seaplanes landing on the Ashley River and a glamorous Pan Am terminal that once stood where City Marina is today. Locals love to imagine the golden age of flying boats bringing sophisticated travelers to Charleston’s waterfront, their silver hulls gliding across the calm waters of the Ashley. While these stories aren’t entirely accurate, they are rooted in a fascinating foundation of truth—one that connects Charleston’s maritime heritage with Pan Am aviation.
The real story behind the Boston Tea Party
John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in New England, was not just a statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence—he was a powerful merchant whose fortune rested largely on smuggling. His role in the Boston Tea Party was not driven solely by patriotism or ideology, but also by economic survival. The events of December 16, 1773, that became legendary in American history were deeply intertwined with Hancock’s personal business interests and his lucrative trade in smuggled tea.
The Story of Vendue Range
In the early days of Charleston, the area now known as Vendue Range was anything but the elegant, historic street visitors stroll down today. Originally called the East End of Queen Street, Vendue Range began as a humble mudflat on the edge of the Cooper River—an unremarkable patch of land that would go on to play a defining role in Charleston’s growth, economy, and character.
By the 1720s, the area west of East Bay Street was called Dock Street. Just over a decade later, in 1734, the city officially renamed it Queen Street.
Charleston the walled city
East Bay Street in Charleston is one of the city’s most well-known thoroughfares, running parallel to the Cooper River waterfront. Visitors admire its historic charm, colorful buildings, and lively atmosphere, but few realize that the land between East Bay Street and the river was once water. The wide swath of ground—roughly one-eighth of a mile—that separates the modern street from the riverbank today is the direct result of centuries-old engineering, lawmaking, and determination by early Charleston settlers.
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