Explore historic buildings and hidden passages on this unique walking tour through the streets and alleys of Charleston, South Carolina. Jim Gresham reveals 350 years of beauty and rare history stored in the roots of this city.
Video transcription
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JIM GRESHAM: Hello guys. My name is Jim Gresham and I am a tour guide for Walks of Charleston. And today, let’s walk with Travel + Leisure, exploring some of the beautiful alleys and hidden passages that are available here in historic Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston has 350 years of history, we have the largest historic neighborhood in the country. And we have more buildings on the National Historic Register than any other city in the country.
Before we start, I want to introduce my favorite building here in the city, the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. This building is extremely important based on a few facts. Number one, it represents the last official British building built on American soil, completed in 1771, just four years before the start of the Revolutionary War.
We are here in a place known as the Philadelphia Alley. And the Philadelphia Alley, I think, is probably the most picturesque of all the alleys we offer here in historic Charleston, South Carolina. Another name by which Philadelphia Alley is known, was known as Duelers Alley. And this is where two men would resolve their differences by marching 10 steps, spinning, counting to three and firing dueling pistols at each other to resolve their differences.
Well, Benjamin Franklin considered dueling a barbaric act. And we find that the duel was largely prohibited in young America after the end of the Revolutionary War. South Carolina only banned the duel in 1888.
We are here at Unity Alley. And behind me is McCrady’s old historic tavern. One of the features of McCrady’s Tavern was the formal dining room located on the second floor, known as the Long Room. And the Long Room would offer a beautiful banquet for a very special guest. In 1791, President George Washington came to Charleston. Here at McCrady’s, a 30-course meal was offered to the president. And I can’t imagine what a 30-course meal would consist of, but I have a feeling the president could have handled those calories.
We are here on Chalmers Street. And Chalmers Street is the only street in the city fully paved with these English river stones that we call ballast stones. The empty sailboats that crossed the Atlantic needed some weight to maintain stability at sea. When these ships arrived, instead of taking these stones and throwing them into the harbor, we kept them. And we started to pave our streets.
Undoubtedly behind me is the oldest house that Charleston offers, the beautiful Casa Rosa from 1696. Some people argue that it really wasn’t a home. In fact, it was built as a tavern. And the oldest designation of a house here in the city goes to the House of Dr. John Lining from 1711. But I like to give credit to those who deserve it and say, Casa Rosa, you have been around for a long time.
The Pink House, weighing 1,010 square feet, doesn’t offer much space to enjoy. And I certainly hope that the new owner of Casa Rosa is not a very tall individual. Because the room that is located on the second floor has a ceiling height of 5 feet and 6 inches in height.
We are here on Elliott Street. And Elliott Street, one of those areas of the city where we would have met during the pre-revolutionary times or colonial period many of the city’s working class citizens. Behind me, a tenement that belonged to a gentleman named William Mills. And we don’t really remember him very well.
We remember him for his son. And his son was called Robert Mills. And if you’re not familiar with Robert Mills’s name, all you have to do is pull out a $ 10 bill, look at the back of each $ 10 bill, and you’ll find the US Treasury building designed and created by a Charleston native and Native American architect Robert Mills.
So, we’re at Bedons Alley. We see the tree growing on the wall. Engineers had to scratch their heads, what do we do? So they created the U to accommodate the tree and accommodate the wall. So the tree is happy. The wall is happy. And everyone is happy.
Check out this Model A here, Model A from 1912 built by Henry Ford. And if you take a look at Model A, it has a trunk. That’s how we get its name, the trunk, there’s a real trunk in the back of the car.
We are about to enter Stoll’s Alley here. And the Stolls Alley was named after the 17th-century blacksmith, a gentleman named Justinus Stoll, Stoll’s Alley is more or less known for something else. It is known for being the narrowest street, the narrowest street that Charleston offers.
Stoll’s Alley had another name. He answered by the name of Pilot’s Alley. We are not talking about airline pilots. We’re talking about ship captains. They would use this access path to reach the shore, so that they could board their ships and set sail for the sea.
My foot is supported by a curious piece of stone that we often see lining the streets of our city here. On the sidewalks of our public roads, we have these carriage stones. And, of course, yesterday, we weren’t using things like Volkswagens and Jeeps to get around. We had horses and carriages as our transport. And that would help a lady to board a carriage.
We are about to enter Longitude Lane. And Longitude Lane is a curious name. This is an east-west street named after a north-south device. And as we go a little further along Longitude Lane, I’ll explain how it came about.
What I like to see are the cracks that have been made over the years and years of wagon traffic. You can see the recesses in these slate pavers.
In the early 1700s, sailors knew how to get around using latitude. But they did not know the mysteries of how to measure longitude. Well, there was a disaster of 1,708 at sea, where 1,500 British sailors lost their lives. And a young watchmaker from London took on the role of William Hamilton.
After several years of trial and error, in 1736, he came up with a device called a marine chronometer, which measures distances at sea and effectively resolved the question of how to measure longitude. Charleston, being a heavily influenced maritime city, celebrated this discovery because they knew that their products would be able to reach the market much more efficiently. So, they called this street that goes from east to west in honor of a device that goes from north to south. Hence the name Longitude Lane.
Well, everyone, thank you so much for joining me for an exploration of those beautiful alleys and hidden passages that Charleston has to offer. Join me the next time you come to Charleston, South Carolina. My name is Jim Gresham. And you’ve been walking with Walks of Charleston and Travel + Leisure.