Since 1687, the French Protestants known as Huguenots and their descendants have worshipped at the corner of Church and...
One of the Lowcountry’s most prolific evergreens is the wax myrtle (Morella cerifera). It grows easily and everywhere—...
When Philip Simmons (1912-2009) began to study the craft of ironwork as a 13-year-old apprentice to Holy City...
Throughout history, locals have laid their dead to rest with love, respect, and—at times—unparalleled Charleston style...
Named for its unusual shape, the American horseshoe crab has been called a “living fossil,” as it has been on Earth...
Find yourself envisioning Jurassic Park’s flying dinosaurs when you see a brown pelican mid-air? You aren’t far off. ...
The ”Great Shake” of August 31, 1886, was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on the East Coast. Its epicenter...
Tomato pie, tomato pilau, tomato gumbo, okra and tomatoes, fried green tomatoes, tomato relish: no question about it,...
Despite their great size, long lifespan (50-plus years), and an armor-like shell that helps protect them from natural...
Silver was the preferred metal for dining, drinking, lighting, and decorative ware in the early Charleston home, and...
Each spring, the bright yellow flowers of Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) announce the new season in...
The brown, floppy-eared pooch known as the “Boykin spaniel” today seems omnipresent in the Holy City—especially during...
They’re affixed to structures throughout the Historic District and beyond: circular plaques mingling English and Latin...
Reflecting on blended family traditions and creating new ones
At four Holy City churches, bells are rung to changes in the English tradition—an art form more rare than many realize
The svelte, long-legged bird known as Meleagris gallopavo is quite a different beast than the fat and juicy turkey that...
“When you steps in it, you sticks,” say the Gullah people of the gooey marsh mud that lines Lowcountry creeks. “Smells...
During periods of drought, folks uninitiated in the magical ways of Pleopeltis polypodioides may spy the epiphyte fern’...
If you’ve never grown an okra plant—merely enjoying someone else’s crop deliciously fried, boiled, steamed, stewed,...
Washed up jellies, scampering crustaceans, tiny shells bound mysteriously into chains: all are common finds on South...
Bring on the magnolia blooms! This month, Magnolia grandiflora’s immense flowers open, filling the air with their...
The stout, cinnamon-colored bird officially dubbed Thryothorus ludovicianus is a year-round Lowcountry resident—a...
One of the few forest creatures regularly spied by city- and suburb-dwellers today, the white-tailed deer—the official...
Longleaf pine trees (Pinus palustris) once covered some 90 million acres in the Southeastern United States, including...
Impossibly thin, subtly sweet, and crunchy with sesame seeds, the benne wafer is a time-honored staple of Charleston...
If the Holy City could count its blessings this month, the iconic public building at the corner of Church Street and...
Today, two magnificent lighthouses mark the entrance to Charleston Harbor: the 1876 Morris Island Lighthouse—...
Among the largest of the 14 species of bats indigenous to South Carolina, these creatures of the night regularly set up...
This graceful member of the heron family (Egretta thula) is distinguished from other tall white wading birds by its...
A call for entries for our third annual photo contest, themed “Only in Charleston,” netted more than 600 submissions....
