Charleston Historic District

Charleston’s picture-perfect Historic District shows off gaily painted houses with deep porches and wooden shutters, cobblestone streets, and magnolias, camellias, and azaleas on every block. The downtown Historic District is one of the country’s oldest neighborhoods and its streets are lined with the famous Charleston Single Houses, many built in the early 1800s. The district’s peninsular location, between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, means a quick drive to the barrier islands for a beach day or an easy stroll to one of the city’s many fabulous waterfront restaurants. The Historic District is divided into smaller neighborhoods known as boroughs, including one district that’s called simply, The Boroughs. Other neighborhoods include South of Broad, the French Quarter, and Harleston Village. The architecture here is mostly centuries old and range from adorable single-level cottages to majestic mansions.

Nearby Neighborhoods:

Living in Charleston

Greater Charleston, which includes the city’s suburban neighbor of Mount Pleasant as well as the nearby barrier islands, is the epitome of southern charm. Charleston has a place for every mood, with relaxed beach towns just across the water from historic neighborhoods boasting cobblestone streets and colorful row houses. The subtropical climate of the South Carolina Lowcountry is a heaven for plant lovers, with a distinct fragrance perfumed by the abundant jasmine and gardenia shrubs as well as the smell of the surrounding marshes’ pluff mud. To outsiders, the latter might seem like an odd thing to love—it’s made of decomposing swamp grass and sea life—but Charlestonians know that the oozy goo and its scent is as central to the city’s identity as the famously delicious oysters that live in it. That’s Charleston for you—a city where the locals are passionate about their idiosyncratic and layered history.