Charleston began in 1670 at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River, moved across to Oyster Point in 1680, and was incorporated in August 1783. The downtown everyone pictures is the peninsula between the Ashley and the Cooper, facing the harbor, and the city reaches a long way past it. Charleston also takes in West Ashley, parts of James and Johns islands, Daniel Island and the Cainhoy Peninsula, and its municipal limits cross from Charleston County into Berkeley County, so a Charleston address can mean several different places to live.
The history is spread across that whole footprint rather than gathered downtown. Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site preserves the spot where the first colonists came ashore. Fort Sumter sits on its own island at the mouth of the harbor, reached by ferry from downtown or from Patriots Point. The Old Slave Mart Museum at 6 Chalmers Street interprets the domestic slave trade; Ryan’s Mart operated on the site from 1856 to 1863 and the surviving auction building went up in 1859. Waterfront Park stretches eight acres along the harbor with a pier, and out on Johns Island, Angel Oak Park holds the live oak itself. Johns Island is also the way out to Kiawah.
Charleston began protecting that fabric early, which is why so much of it is still standing. The Charleston Historic District was made a National Historic Landmark district in 1960 and listed on the National Register in 1966.
The Census counted 150,227 residents and 77,479 housing units in 2020, and the estimate for July 2025 was 159,423, six percent above the count. Only 1,847 of those homes were held for seasonal or occasional use, around two in a hundred, so the visitors Charleston is known for move through a city of full-time residents.
The work backs that up. The city’s 2024 financial report names Joint Base Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina, Boeing, Charleston County School District and Roper St. Francis Healthcare among the region’s principal employers, with Boeing’s 787 line beside Charleston International Airport and the Port of Charleston working the harbor. Charleston County School District serves most of the city and Berkeley County School District the Berkeley portion. I-26 runs in from I-95, US 17 crosses the Cooper River on the Ravenel Bridge, and Charleston International Airport is in North Charleston, about thirteen miles from downtown. South of the city, SC 174 leaves US 17 for the twenty-eight mile run down to Edisto Beach.
The Angel Oak’s age is worth getting right, because the wrong version travels widely. The tree is often said to be more than 1,400 years old. The city’s own park page estimates 300 to 400 years, and that is the figure we use.
Sourced: founding, relocation and incorporation dates, City of Charleston. Population and housing units, U.S. Census Bureau 2020 count and Vintage 2025 estimate. Two-county status, U.S. Census Bureau place-in-county records. Landmarks and museum dates, National Park Service and City of Charleston. Register and landmark dates, National Park Service. Employers and port, the City’s 2024 annual financial report, which ranks the metropolitan area rather than the city limits.