15 Things You Didn’t Know About Charleston, South Carolina

Horse Racing in Charleston

We live in a world of information overload, where content is being shared faster than we can absorb it.  Throw in the accolades Charleston is receiving and all the buzz is on this humble little city.  We are seeing a lot of recurring themes and information.  We thought we would find a few interesting tid bits of information, both historic and current about Charleston, SC that you may not already know.

Here we go.  Get ready to be Oh, Ah and Hmmmmed..

Some Things You Didn’t Know About Charleston, South Carolina

• Adult film star Ally Tate calls Charleston home.

• Horse Racing in Charleston:  There were at least 10 race tracks in the tri-county area including the York course (1735) in North Charleston and New Market (1754), between King and Meeting near present-day Columbus Street. But the most prominent course was the Washington Race Course which is now the mile-long Mary Murray Drive in Hampton Park.  According to the South Carolina Gazette, the first race took place almost 300 years ago on February 1, 1734 here in Charleston near the vicinity of John and Meeting Streets.

• Edgar Allen Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie between 1827 – 1828.

• There is a Butterfly Garden in Park Circle (North Charleston).  It is pretty cool

• The first game of golf played in the United States took place in Charleston, South Carolina.

• Founded in 1773, The Charleston Museum is considered the country’s oldest municipal museum.

• The College of Charleston, the first municipal college in America, and the oldest publicly supported college in the U.S., opened its doors in 1770. The college boasts three signers of the U.S. Constitution and two signers of the Declaration of Independence among its founding fathers.
• There is a famous “round house” on Sullivan’s Island that a son designed for his parents to be hurricane proof, but if you look at it, you swear it is straight out of Star Wars:  A New Hope.
• Egg Fertilization – Ernest Just was born in Charleston, SC, in 1883. He was a biologist, academic, and science writer. His most noted research was in the fundamental role of the cell surface in developing organisms such as egg fertilization.

• Imitation Mineral Water – In 1810, Simons and Rundell of Charleston, SC, received patent to mass manufacture imitation mineral water that was used in soda fountains!

• Invention of Iced Tea – There is a receipt from 1890 that proves that Summerville, SC, is the birthplace and, therefore, the inventor of iced tea.

• The first symphony orchestra in America was sponsored by the Saint Cecilia Society of Charleston.  The Saint Cecilia Society was formed in 1766.

Survivor Finalist Chelsea Meissner

• Season 24 Survivor Finalist Chelsea Meissner calls Charleston home.

• Lionel The Hedgehog with over 120K followers on Instagram is from Charleston, SC living with her mom Anna.

• Charleston has a dental museum.  The Macaulay Museum of Dental History is a small, well-curated collection of vintage dental equipment and teeth-based treasures, like an instrument made by Paul Revere himself. You can even see a recreation of an early 1900s dental office, which won’t make you feel so bad about visiting the modern kind.

Now you have some fun facts for the light bar banter during halftime or at the next game night.

Edgar Allan Poe