Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Tidewater is Virginia for the coastal plain correct? Because yes, the fall line divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain. But most people wouldn't call Fayetteville coastal. It's Eastern NC. If your county or even MSA touches the ocean, most would probably consider you coastal.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,987,215 times
Reputation: 7328
It's down to Savannah and Charleston and Savannah beats charleston into the ground in this regard. Savannah is just overall better preserved, far larger, and IMHO is one of the best examples of the perfect urban center that this country has to offer. Well, the Victorian and the Historic District at least.
In fairness to Charleston though, people forget that it was leveled during the Civil War and Savannah was not. That obviously had a big impact on how those cities are today.
Tidewater is Virginia for the coastal plain correct? Because yes, the fall line divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain. But most people wouldn't call Fayetteville coastal. It's Eastern NC. If your county or even MSA touches the ocean, most would probably consider you coastal.
The peninsula is historical, with Williamsburg and Jamestown.
The only historic area in FL that is really THAT coastal are older parts of Jacksonville (but it's a really small slice) and St. Augustine.
Key West is absolutely historic (it was the largest city in Florida in the 19th century). It's just not really southern in terms of either architecture or culture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waronxmas
In fairness to Charleston though, people forget that it was leveled during the Civil War and Savannah was not. That obviously had a big impact on how those cities are today.
Charleston has lots of surviving pre-Civil War buildings (some going back to the 18th century), though the classic "Charleston house" (narrow, often brick, side entrance) was built as late as 1890.
I prefer Savannah's architecture, and the Olmstead plan is wonderful because there is so much green space. Charleston was a city of wealthy estates, meaning very little space was set aside for parkland. However, Savannah's rowhouse vernacular really isn't that unique nationally - it's basically a Mid-Atlantic city which happens to be in the Deep South. Charleston doesn't look like anywhere else in the country however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SEAandATL
The peninsula is historical, with Williamsburg and Jamestown.
This is underselling Virginia a bit, because there are beautiful historic portions of Norfolk and Portsmouth as well.
Virginia's not in the poll, but I would probably put it in second after SC, taking into account all of that and Old Town Alexandria. If you included Richmond as "coastal" it would be even clearer, since Richmond has a pretty wide selection of rowhouse-ish neighborhoods within the urban core (probably 50,000 people live in this area, making it much more functionally like a city than the tourist-dominated downtown areas of Charleston and Savannah).
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,987,215 times
Reputation: 7328
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
Charleston has lots of surviving pre-Civil War buildings (some going back to the 18th century), though the classic "Charleston house" (narrow, often brick, side entrance) was built as late as 1890.
Yes, I mean it wasn't flattened beyond recognition but it was pretty close. What's there today is mostly reconstructed after the war to it's antebellum state however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
I prefer Savannah's architecture, and the Olmstead plan is wonderful because there is so much green space. Charleston was a city of wealthy estates, meaning very little space was set aside for parkland. However, Savannah's rowhouse vernacular really isn't that unique nationally - it's basically a Mid-Atlantic city which happens to be in the Deep South. Charleston doesn't look like anywhere else in the country however.
I look at that a lot differently. Prior to Savannah, all of the colonial settlements basically followed the British village model and grew haphazardly. From day one, the Squares and gridiron were part of the plan. That model spread to other cities of the time so it was more that Savannah just influenced them.
The post-Civil War building stock certainly is the same as other East Coast cities, but the thing that stands out in Savannah when you visit is how much of it has survived and thrived. As much as cities like Boston, Philadephia, or others are lauded on these boards for their old school architecture, a non-insignificant amount of it was wiped away during urban renewal and Savannah thankfully only had a little bit of that. Even better is that in recent years there has been a big effort to restore parts of the historic district that were removed during the mid-20th century pig headed movement.
And St. Augustine is the only one worth talking about and it's super tiny. It is nice there however and I'm not knocking it at all.
Key West is majority historically protected, then you have Miami Beach's world-class Art Deco Historic District, Fernandina Beach has 300 registered buildings, Palm Beach, Coral Gables, Apalachicola, Seaside, Sarasota, Tarpon Springs are all very historic too. I actually voted Florida.
South Carolina is #2.
Georgia far and away #3 (Savannah isn't even a coastal city). And North Carolina may as well be non-existent.
Key West is majority historically protected, then you have Miami Beach's world-class Art Deco Historic District, Fernandina Beach has 300 registered buildings, Palm Beach, Coral Gables, Apalachicola, Seaside, Sarasota, Tarpon Springs are all very historic too. I actually voted Florida.
South Carolina is #2.
Georgia far and away #3 (Savannah isn't even a coastal city). And North Carolina may as well be non-existent.
Yeah, Florida does have a case since the OP didn’t specify how historical we are talking about. Colonial and Florida is in last place. If we are talking 1800s and early 1900s, Florida has a case since every city has some historical sections and the sheer number of cities far and away eclipses the other states. Hyde Park in Tampa is a great example of a historic neighborhood and feels vaguely similar to Charleston.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
