City: Charleston, SC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (843) 852-4200

Address: 1500 Old Towne Rd. (between I-26 and SR

Description: Surely this is one of the most unusual state parks in South Carolina, if not America. Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site was created as part of South Carolina’s 300th anniversary celebration in 1970 on the plantation belonging to Dr. and Mrs. Joseph I. Waring. Today, the property isn’t presented to the public as a plantation per se. Rather, the vast acreage is devoted to re-creating and interpreting the first English settlement in the Carolinas, which existed on this plantation site back in 1670. Once inside the gate, visitors travel down a long alley bordered by ancient live oaks and swamp. Eventually you come to a parking lot and a complex of modern buildings that serve as a starting point for your adventure. A new visitor center opened in 2006 as part of a major ongoing renovation of the whole park. It includes extensive interactive exhibits describing how settlers, slaves, traders, and Native Americans came together at this location to begin the first European Colony in the Carolinas. Charles Towne Landing is a working archaeological site where visitors can interact with historians literally unearthing the early story of South Carolina’s first English settlement and the Native American history that preceded it. Visitors can also tour the Legare-Waring plantation house and observe many fascinating artifacts found at the site. Along the river, you may explore a full-scale replica of a typical 17th-century trading vessel called the Adventure, docked at the landing in Old Towne Creek. Picture it as a common work vehicle of the early plantation system, plying the waters loaded with fur pelts, indigo shipments, and rice to sell on the wharves in Charleston. These boats also carried people and supplies to the widely scattered plantations upriver. The redesign of the Animal Forest boasts a 20-acre natural habitat zoo with wolves, pumas, bears, bison, snakes, and alligators—all part of the Lowcountry landscape when settlers first arrived in the 1670s. The Settlers’ Life Area, with its replica colonial buildings, is a handsome example of what early colonists saw every day. You’ll see candle making, open-fire cooking, woodworking, and, depending on the season and the weather, even the colony’s first printing press in action. Special exhibits and demonstrations can be found here on holidays. Charles Towne Landing is open all year except Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m daily. Picnic tables, a snack bar, and a gift shop are all on-site. The park is largely accessible to visitors with disabilities. Visitors age 6 and older are charged an admission fee. Wheelchairs and strollers are available free of charge.