Charles Towne Landing facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Site of Old Charles Towne
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Cabin at Charles Towne Landing, August 2016
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 Location in South Carolina
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1500 Old Towne Road |
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| Nearest city | Charleston, South Carolina |
| Area | 184 acres (74 ha) |
| Built | 1670 |
| NRHP reference No. | 69000162 |
| Added to NRHP | December 17, 1969 |
Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site is a special place in Charleston, South Carolina. It protects the exact spot where the first English settlers built a permanent home in Carolina. This big park, about 664 acres, opened in 1970 to celebrate South Carolina's 300th birthday. Today, you can find an exhibit hall, a natural habitat zoo, and even a replica of an old ship here. There are also trails, picnic spots, and places where archaeologists are still digging up history!
Contents
Stepping Back in Time: Living History at Charles Towne Landing
What Did Early Settlers Grow?
The Experimental Crop Garden shows you the plants that early settlers grew. They planted these crops for food and to sell for money. You can often see sugarcane and indigo here. These were two important "cash crops" that the colonists tried to grow.
The Ship Adventure: A Journey Through History
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The Adventure is a copy of a ketch, which was a popular type of cargo ship in the 1600s. Ships like this carried goods, food, and even animals between different places. A famous ship designer named William Avery Baker created the plans for the Adventure in 1969. The first Adventure was at Charles Towne Landing from 1970 to 2004. A new Adventure was built in 2008 and sailed to the park that same year.
Protecting the Colony: The Fortified Area
The Fortified Area of the park has a reconstructed palisade wall. A palisade is a strong fence made of tall, pointed logs. The first colonists built this wall to protect their new home from attacks by the Spanish. This area also has rebuilt earthwork defenses and six replica cannons. Some cannons faced the Ashley River, and others protected Towne Creek. Both the wall and the earth defenses are rebuilt exactly where the original ones were found by archaeologists.
Meet the Animals: The Animal Forest
The Animal Forest is a natural habitat zoo. It's home to animals that lived in Carolina back in the 1670s. Some of these animals, like pumas and bison, don't live in the South Carolina Low Country anymore. Here are some of the animals you can see at the zoo:
Birds of Carolina
- Great blue heron
- Brown pelican
- Great egret
- Black-crowned night heron
- White ibis
- Wild turkey
- Turkey vulture
- Black vulture
- Yellow-crowned night heron
Mammals of the Past
- Red wolf
- Striped skunk
- Black bear
- White-tailed deer
- Bison
- Bobcat
- Pumas/cougars/mountain lions
- North American river otter
Uncovering the Past: Archaeology at the Site
Archaeology is the study of human history through digging up old things. At Charles Towne Landing, archaeologists have found items from Native Americans, English settlers, and Africans. Professional archaeology started here in 1967 and is still happening today. These digs help us learn more about what life was like when the colony first began.
