Where is Charleston, SC?

Quick facts

What is it about Charleston...the sea breezes, the thick southern charms, the pastel homes along Rainbow Row?

The answers are varied, as Charleston easily beguiles over 4 million visitors each year, luring them in with a wide variety of attractions and historical sites.

Located about midway along the South Carolina Atlantic Ocean coastline, this gem of a city is an exotic blend of English, French and West African cultures, as well as an arts and culinary center of distinction.

All but surrounded by rivers, at its very heart lies a peninsula lined with historic homes, stunning gardens and cobblestone streets. And for gastronomes and shoppers, trendy restaurants and specialty stores await.

• Charleston

• Charleston boasts the first public college, museum and playhouse in the United States.
• George Gershwin composed his well known opera Porgy and Bess while living on Folly Beach, South Carolina. Porgy and Bess are buried in the James Island Presbyterian Church graveyard.
• The first game of golf played in the United States took place in Charleston, South Carolina.

These are but a few of things to see and do in Charleston. Check all of them out, and more, on your South Carolina vacation:

• Historic Charleston
  This area of Charleston is replete with history at every turn, and not to be missed is the Nathaniel Russell House. Since 1808, visitors have admired the grand townhouse of onetime Charleston merchant Nathaniel Russell. Set amid spacious formal gardens, the Nathaniel Russell House is a National Historic Landmark and is widely recognized as one of America's most important neoclassical dwellings. The graceful interior with elaborate plasterwork ornamentation, geometrically shaped rooms and a magnificent free-flying staircase are among the finest ever created in early America. Located in Downtown Charleston just sough of Broad Street, the house is furnished with period antiques and works of art that evoke the gracious lifestyle of the city's merchant elite. Today the Nathaniel Russell House interprets the lives of the Russell family, as well as the African American slaves and artisans who were responsible for maintaining one of the South's grandest antebellum townhouses.
• Fort Sumter
  Where The American Civil War Began... Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back. Fort Sumter National Monument encompasses three sites in Charleston: the original Fort Sumter, the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center, and the Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. Access to Fort Sumter itself is by a 30 minute ferry ride from the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center or Patriots Point. The museum at Fort Sumter focuses on the activities at the fort, including its construction and role during the Civil War.
• Arthur Ravenel Bridge
  North America's longest cable-stayed bridge spans the Charleston Harbor. The Arthur J. Ravenel Jr. Bridge connects historic Charleston and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The bridge is home to the annual USA Track & Field 10,000 meter Cooper River Bridge Run on the first weekend of April. This event attracts up to 50,000 people. The route starts in Mount Pleasant and finishes in downtown Charleston at Marion Square.

Charleston has a population of around 127694, of which 60549 (47%) are male and 67145 (52%) are female. The average age of the inhabitants of Charleston is 36.81, meaning that the average person is below the national median age of 37. For every male, there are approximately 1.11 females, meaning that the population is relatively evenly distributed between males and female(s).

Of Charleston's 127694 residents, around 125593 (98.40%) identify as having a single race. The majority of the population is white, which consists of 72.60% of the population. Of the remaining population, 30481 are black/African Americans (23.90%), 179 are native Americans (0.10%), 1677 are asians (1.30%), 60 are pacific islanders (0.00%), 463 are other (0.40%).

The median income of households in Charleston is $55546.00, meaning that most of the households are above the poverty threshold for families of three. Of the total population, 10.00% of households reported an annual income of less than $10,000.

Charleston, SC Zipcodes

The city of Charleston has 14 zipcodes recognized by the United States Census Bureau: 29401, 29403, 29405, 29407, 29409, 29412, 29414, 29424, 29445, 29450, 29455, 29464, 29487, 29492.