Timeline of Charleston, South Carolina

Prior to the 1700s

1680 – Settlement of English immigrants, mostly from Barbados, relocates from Albemarle Point to site of future Charles Town.

1681 – St. Philip's Episcopal Church founded.

1700s

1708 – African slaves comprise majority of population in the colony; blacks make up majority of population in the city and state until the early 20th century

1719 – Town renamed "Charlestown" (approximate date).

1729 – St. Andrew's Society founded.

1732 – South Carolina Gazette newspaper begins publication.

1734 – South Carolina Jockey Club constituted.

1736 – Dock Street Theatre opens.

1737 – South-Carolina Society founded.

1739 – Stono Rebellion of slaves occurs near Charleston.

1740 – Fire.

1743 – Armory built.

1745 – Town gate rebuilt.

1748 – Charleston Library Society organized.

1750 – Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim founded.

1752 – September: Hurricane.

1761 – St. Michael's church built.

1765

Resistance to British Stamp Act 1765.

John Bartlam pottery in operation near Charleston.

1766

St. Cecilia Society formed.

German Friendly Society founded.

1769 – Town becomes part of Charleston District.

1770 – Population: 11,000.

1771 – Royal Exchange built.

1773 – Museum founded by the Charleston Library Society.

1774 – Charleston Tea Party protest.

1780 – Siege of Charleston.

1782 – December 14: British occupation ends.

1783

Town renamed "Charleston."

Charter received.

Richard Hutson becomes mayor.

City Guard organized.

1784 – Scotch Presbyterian church incorporated.

1786

March: State capital moves from Charleston to Columbia.

South Carolina Golf Club founded.

1788 – Charleston becomes part of the new US state of South Carolina.

1789 – Medical Society of South Carolina founded.

1790

College of Charleston opens.

Population: 16,359.

1791 – Roman Catholic Church of Charleston incorporated.

1792

Charleston Orphan Asylum founded.

Washington Race Course opens.

1794 – Charleston Mechanic Society and Brown Benevolent Society founded.

1797 – South Carolina Weekly Museum (magazine) begins publication.

1798 – Bank of South Carolina established.

1799 – Yellow fever outbreak.

1800s–1850s

1800

Santee Canal (Columbia-Charleston) built.

Population: 18,824.

Charleston has largest Jewish population of any city in the US.

1801 – Hibernian Society founded.

1803 – Courier newspaper begins publication.

1806 – Franklin Library Society founded.

1807 – Washington Light Infantry founded.

1810

Castle Pinckney built.

Population: 24,711.

1813 – Literary and Philosophical Society of South Carolina founded.

1815 – Religious Tract Society of Charleston organized.

1816 – Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church founded.

1819

Charleston Mercury newspaper begins publication.

New England Society of Charleston organized.

Siegling Music House founded.

1820

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston established.

Population: 24,780.

1822 – Denmark Vesey's alleged rebellion of slaves thwarted.

1823

Charleston Port Society founded.

Medical College of South Carolina incorporated.

1824

Apprentices' Library Society incorporated.

Charleston Museum opens.

1830 – Population: 30,289.

1833 – Charleston-Hamburg railroad begins operating.

1839

Charleston Hotel built.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church built.

1840 – Population: 29,261.

1841

Market Hall built.

Charleston Arsenal built.

1843 – South Carolina Military Academy opens.

1847 – Shearith Israel synagoguge built.

1849 – South Carolina Institute for the Promotion of Art, Mechanical Ingenuity, and Industry organized; annual Fair begins.

1850

Magnolia Cemetery built.

Roper Hospital established.

Population: 42,985.

1852 – Museum founded by the College of Charleston.

1853 – Elliott Society of Natural History established.

1854

Young Men's Christian Association of Charleston and B’rith Shalom congregation established.

Old Bethel United Methodist Church rebuilt.

Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar consecrated.

1855 – South Carolina Historical Society founded.

1856 – Ryan's Mart slave market established.

1858 – Carolina Art Association established.

1859 – Charleston Marine School opens.

1860s–1890s

1860

April: Democratic National Convention held in city.

December: Popular outcry for secession from the Union.

Population: 40,522.

1861

January 2: State troops occupy Fort Johnson on James Island.

January 9 – Citadel cadets fire on Union ship Star of the West.

April: Battle of Fort Sumter.

Population: 48,409.

Floating Battery of Charleston Harbor built.

Confederate Naval Sailor and Marines' Cemetery built.

1862

May 13: Robert Smalls commandeers Confederate ship CSS Planter in Charleston Harbour.

June 16: Battle of James Island.

1863

July–September 7: Siege of Charleston Harbor.

July 11: First Battle of Fort Wagner.

July 18: Second Battle of Fort Wagner.

September 8: Second Battle of Fort Sumter.

1864 – February 17: Sinking of USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor.

1865

Union troops occupy city.

Daily News begins publication.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Avery Normal Institute established.

Shaw School opens.

State Colored People's Convention held in city.

1866

Colored YMCA established.[1]

Furchgott dry goods store in business.

1867 – Porter Military Academy formed.

1868 – January 14: State constitutional convention held in Charleston.

1869 – Carolina Rifle Club organized.

1870

Charleston Female Seminary established.

Savannah and Charleston Railroad reopened.

Magnolia Gardens opens.

Population: 48,956.

1872 – St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church built.

1879 – United States Custom House built.

1880 – Population: 49,984.

1882 – City of Charleston Fire Department and Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church established.

1883 – Samuel Dibble becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.

1884 – Robert Smalls becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district.

1886 – August 31: The 6.9–7.3 Mw Charleston earthquake shakes South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people were killed and damage totalled $5–6 million.

1889 – William Enston Homes built.

1890

East Shore Terminal Company formed.

Population: 54,955.

1891 – Central Baptist Church built.

1893 – August: 1893 Charleston Hurricane.

1895 – Century Club for women organized.

1896 – United States Post Office and Courthouse built.

1899 – Charleston City Federation of Women's Clubs organized.

1900s

1900 – Population: 55,807.

1901 – South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition opens.

1903 – Charleston Terminal Company created.

1906 – Hampton Park created.

1907

Union Station built.

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist opens.

1908 – Gaud School established.

1909– Ashley Hall established

1910 – Population: 58,833.

1911 – People's Office Building constructed.

1912

Carolina Arts and Crafts incorporated.

Read Brothers store established.

1913 – Charleston Library Society building constructed.

1917 – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Charleston branch established.

1918 – Garden Theatre built.

1920

Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings founded.

Lincoln Theatre opens.

1927 – Gloria Theatre opens.

1929 – John P. Grace Memorial Bridge opens.

1930 – Charleston County Library established.

1931 – Footlight Players theatre group formed.

1937 – Dock Street Theatre opens.

1938 – September 20: Tornado.

1940 – August: 1940 South Carolina hurricane.

1942 – American Theater opens.

1945 – Cigar Factory labor strike; singing of We Shall Overcome.[2][3]

1947 – Historic Charleston Foundation established.

1949 – Johnson Hagood Stadium opens.

1950 – Ashley Theatre opens.

1951 – The Links Charleston chapter founded.

1957 – Fraser Elementary School opens.

1959 – J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr. becomes mayor.

1964 – Porter-Gaud School formed.

1966 – New Cooper River Bridge opens.

1968 – Pinehaven Cinema and Gateway Drive-In cinema open.

1969 – March 20: Charleston Hospital Strike begins.

1970

Port Drive-In cinema opens.

Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site established.

1972 – City of North Charleston incorporated, adjacent to City of Charleston.

1973 – Trident Technical College established.

1975 – Joseph P. Riley, Jr. becomes mayor.

1977 – Spoleto Festival USA begins.

1980

Charleston Royals baseball team founded.

Population: 69,510.

1981 – Citadel Mall in business.

1983 – Lowcountry Food Bank[4] and sister city relationship with Spoleto, Italy established.

1985 – College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture established.

1989 – Hurricane Hugo.

1990 – Waterfront Park created.

1991 – Melvin's BBQ in business.

1992 – Charleston Grill in business.

1993

North Charleston Coliseum opens.

Charleston Battery soccer team founded.

1994 – Charleston Tibetan Society founded.

1995

Mark Sanford becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.

Sunken civil war-era submarine Hunley rediscovered offshore.

1996

100 Black Men of Charleston established.

City website online (approximate date).

1997

Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority formed.

Charleston City Paper begins publication.

Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park stadium opens.

2000s

2000 – South Carolina Aquarium opens.

2003 – Charleston School of Law established.

2004 – Charleston Comedy Festival begins.

2005 – Cooper River Bridge opens.

2006 – Central Mosque of Charleston founded.

2007

Old Slave Mart museum opens.

Sofa Super Store fire.

2008 – TD Arena and Meeting Street Academy [5] open.

2010

Husk restaurant in business.

The Charleston Promise Neighborhood incorporated.

Population: 120,083.

2011 – Tim Scott becomes U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.

2015

June 17: Nine people are killed, including the senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, by Dylann Roof, in the Charleston church shooting.

June 26: Funeral of Clementa Pinckney; U.S. President Barack Obama delivers eulogy.