The national Republican., 1861-12-18
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN,
The CITY Of Charleston.


This il the large-i |, South Carolina, anG
built on a peninsula or tongue Of land betwe"
the Ashley and Cooper rivers. which unite y
low the town and form spacious harbor, coh
municstinp with tn. ocean at sullivan 8 lslal
seven miles distant. Both harbor and city !
semble New York and It's bay In miniatul
Cooper ard Ashley rivers are from thirty
forty feet deep--COoper being l,%OO yai
wide, and Ashley 2.lOO The city is regular
built, and ex,ends nearly two miles In leng
and mile and half IN breadth. Some Oft
streets are from Sky Ia seventy feet broeG
and some are narrow-tur instance, kiu!
street, the Broadway of Charleston. Many q
the houses are built Of brick and In style a.
elegance, particularly ground the Battery
but a large number are of wood, some OF then
neatly painted, as in Brooklyn. but more o.
them very dnQy. aud inhabited by the negroes.
The streets run mostly parallel to each other
running across from river to river, and inter
sected longitudnaly nearly at right angles
They are shaded with the Pride of India and
other beautiful trees. Several of the houses
are emb owered in profusion Of foliage and
flowers. Many OF the dwellings have piszzss.
and are ornamented with vines and creeperr,
while the gardens attached to them bloom With
the orange, the peach, and other trees. and
shrubs in great variety.
The population in 1850 was AZ 9s5, Of which
1882 were slaves.
The chief exports are cotton and rice The
average crop of Sea Island cotton, in South
Carolina, is $4,000 to $4,000 bales, about two
thirds of which come to Charleston, the re-
maiuder to Savannah.
The rice crop of the State lie l30 060, Of
which Charle stOn receives nearly all. In 1854
Charleston expc rIed "a 76l bales OF Sea leland
cotton, 4OS. .27S bales OF upland cotton, 1928, ,06i
bushels OF rough rice, about as much cleaned
- o g. r. L. 4
opening of railroad communication between
Charleston and the West, the city had become
the centre Of an important trade in -four. The
quantity received 10 1853 amounted to so, 00O
barrels. Charleston exported more rice than
any other city in the URion, and was surpassed
only by New Orleans and Mobile in the ex
pOrtation Of cotton. Ehe imports were only
about one-eghth of the exports.
Charleston was formerly extensively eugaget
in ship building; but Of late this business has
very much declined The shipping of the por
in 1852 amounted to 22 526 tons registered. OF
1859 tons enrolled aui licensed.
The graf extent OF r.ilroads that open com,
muuication with the interior afford Charlesto
superior advantages for inland trade.
The city of Charleston is one of the Oldest in
the United States, having been founded il
1872 Its population was recruited some years
forwards by Huguenot refugees, who sm
-lEdlFu rom duu SSllltu III
numbers in South Carolina. From this stock
many OF the first families of that region now
claim TO be descended. 1t was not till l7ss
that it was incorporated as city. Fifty-twC
years previously, in 1871. ii contained six hun
drpd houses and FIVE churches, and thrivin,
Business was done l., its pert. During the Rev
uiio1sry War, the possession OF the hsrbo
81 Charleston was The object If more than on
b-ttsh expedition.
\ Trison Of 400 on Sulivan's Island, unde
-1mmand OF Colonel Moultrie, achieved grea
distinction by the repulse, on the 2Sth of June
lIi6. OF a British squadron of nine ships o
war. On the 18th of May. 1850, the city wa
surrendered To Sir Henry Clinton. by Genera
Lincoln. the corp ration and principal inhab
tAnts refusing to cooperate in its defence, an
Offering to acknowledge the sovereignty. c
Great Britain. The British held it till MAY
1852. II contaius some thirty churches thu
alre, several excellent hotels. cotton presse
and factories, engine and machine manutactt
Res, shipyards and large dry dock. I's banl
and other msneyed corporations enjoyed big
r,putation until the secession ma Ia brougf
dslruction upon the city and its institutions
/, aas suffered greater disasters by fire tha
almost any other city in the United States.
liio there were 252 houses consumed; In lSC
nearly third OF the city was destroyed, il
volving loss Of property to the amount of tw
million five hundred thousand dollars. Agai
in the great fire Of 1888, the loss was estimate
at five million dollars.