Our featured story is about how slaves sold their flowers.

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Today's top stories in

The Coast

A note from our publishers:

Wow, have we grown. In just one year we have tripled our subscribers.

And during that time The Coast has adjusted and evolved.

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to bring you the best stories from our beloved coast.

Our lead story today illustrates how former slaves and children from Mount Pleasant plantations would take the ferry across the harbor in the '30s to sell their flowers downtown. Our second feature is on the International African-American Museum where visitors will learn how enslaved Blacks hauled illl-gotten cash crops from where they themselves were bought and sold along the downtown

We hope you enjoy reading The Coast and we'd love for you to tell your friends and neighbors about us.

Charles deV. Williams, publisher

Jim Parker, assistant publisher

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The International African-American museum: It's more than a building

By Sam Spence/Charleston City Paper

"The stories are hemispheric, they’re Atlantic and they are indeed global,” College of Charleston history professor Bernard Powers said.

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Not far from where the International African American Museum is rising along the Charleston waterfront, Septima Clark rallied workers and Esau Jenkins started a credit union. Mother Emanuel sits nearby, rooted in uprising. Charleston hospital workers protested unfair conditions in the 1960s down the street. Enslaved Africans hauled ill-gotten cash crops steps from where they themselves were bought and sold along downtown docks. Yes, the International African American Museum sits at 14 Wharfside St. in Charleston, but its stories lie far beyond its walls.

“The stories are hemispheric, they’re Atlantic and they are indeed global,” College of Charleston history professor Bernard Powers said at the museum’s October 2019 groundbreaking. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn insisted the museum must tell the rich histories of Americans of African descent. “It has to be about what African Americans are and can be and will be,” he said.

The museum is the fruit of a more-than-20-year effort by local leaders — including Clyburn, former Mayor Joe Riley and others — to memorialize Charleston’s place at the center of African-American cultural history in the U.S. Nearly $100 million was raised from private benefactors and blue chip corporations ahead of the museum’s construction, which is expected to be nearing completion by this time next year.

How can the IAAM balance being a museum and a tourist attraction?

“There are enough truth-seekers that will come to this museum to learn the truth, and we don’t have to be afraid of offending," said Millicent Brown, retired educator and community activist.

"If we’re afraid to tell these uncomfortable truths, then we never intended to do anything that was transformative … If you call upon the uniqueness of Charleston, then don’t skirt it and say, ‘OK, people came here, and then this is the part of the story we want to tell you,’” she said.

A platform for disruption

Tonya Matthews was named on April 10 as the museum’s new chief executive officer. With a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, as well as museum and education experience (plus a talent for spoken-word poetry), Matthews pledges the museum will be an institution as powerful as the history it commemorates.

“This is an incredible museum that is destined to be much more than a building,” Matthews told the City Paper. “It is a platform for disrupting institutionalized racism on a global scale, with the power of the stories we tell, and the authenticity that we tell them with. And frankly, Charleston is home to some of the most powerful stories in the world.”

Beyond the legacy of Gadsden’s Wharf as a landing site for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Matthews said modern histories of those who call Charleston home will be important to the museum’s ongoing work.

“Charleston has also been on the front lines of some of those earliest fights for equity and equality of Black people in America. And of course, those people are still here, still alive — long and storied histories and families that can tell the stories of that resilience, of that moving forward," Matthews said. "And, even some of our stories of ally-ship are rooted here in Charleston.”

Critical in this time

Even 50-plus years removed from the civil rights movement, the International African American Museum's exhibits and programming are being curated as America continues confronting its racist past and how it persists into the present day.

What is lost if the museum exhibits center on enslavement?

“What’s lost is: Through adversity, there’s strength," said La’Sheia Oubré, retired educator, and member of Anson Street African Burial Ground Project.

"I teach my own children, you know the picture of the African-American gentleman, and the whippings across his back? His whole back is ripped from the whippings. When kids see it, they go, ‘I don’t want to see it! I don’t want to see it!’ I say, ‘No, look at it … He is telling us, I’m here for you and I need you to carry on … Make sure that you survive. Make sure that you prosper, make sure you take care of each other,’” she said.

“The museum would have been important in any time," Matthews said, "but I think that it is critical in this time. In many ways, because we are charged with this conversation that America has gotten [itself] into — some may say ‘accidentally,’ some may say ‘finally.’ But, our mission is actually around adding history and context to the conversations that we’re having right now around racial injustice, social inequity. Those issues did not come to us overnight.”

Built in a modern-looking building next to the Maritime Center, the main museum space will sit elevated above an open-air park and garden space that will be accessible to the public and include features marking the importance of the site. Upstairs, museum galleries will be split between permanent and rotating exhibitions, the details of which are still being determined.

Local connection

Surrounded by historic Charleston, but situated alongside the South Carolina Aquarium and the Fort Sumter National Monument buildings, Matthews will be looking for ways the museum can collaborate with local leaders and institutions inside the museum’s four walls.

Historian, author and TV host Henry Louis Gates Jr. recently visited virtually with former Mayor Joe Riley’s class at The Citadel on the creation of the museum, discussing the importance of Charleston and South Carolina in the context of the educational site.

Here’s an excerpt from his remarks:

“According to the last estimate that I looked at, 48% of all of our African ancestors came to the United States through the port of Charleston. That’s amazing. So metaphorically, Charleston is our Ellis Island. That’s incredible … The second reason [the museum should be here] is because Charleston was ground zero for reconstruction,” he said.

“South Carolina is a very complicated place … I want that complex story to be told.”

According to Matthews, “We’re going to be a physically larger institution that gets a lot of attention, How can we use our size and our attention in service of our smaller sister and brother museums?”

“Does that look like us being able to bring the national figures, national historians, to the Lowcountry and put them on the same stage as our home griots who have lived the stories, and put them together in that same space?” Matthews asked, using a West African term for historian-storytellers.

Ultimately, Matthews said she wants the museum to be a place where the harsh realities and radical resilience of the African American people can be explored under one roof, as intimidating a task as that is.

“I think, for me, I need two impacts … An arguably uncomfortable reckoning … an informed reckoning on the one hand, and an inspiration to rise to the challenge on the other,” she said.

“I want them to leave with some of the heaviness,” Matthews said. “But, I also want them to leave with some of the inspiration that has allowed people to, to not just survive but to thrive through these experiences.”

Why is the IAAM important right now?

“I think the museum is another tool for people doing their self-work and really learning," Matthews said. "I think it’s all the more relevant, all the more urgent as we see these [social injustices], time and time again. And, it can feel defeating and overwhelming … I think that the museum is really a symbol of … standing in the face of adversity and saying, ‘You’re not going to win.’”

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Former slaves and children from Mount Pleasant plantations used to take the ferry across to sell their flowers

By Ally Bush/Charleston magazine

Courtesy The Charleston Museum

Amid the bustle outside the U.S. Post Office at the intersection of Broad and Meeting streets in 1934, Morton B. Paine snapped a photo of vendors peddling flowers and holiday greenery to homemakers and visitors.

In the late 19th century, “The children and grandchildren of former slaves who worked on Mount Pleasant plantations” began taking a ferry across the Cooper River to downtown Charleston. There, they would market their “flowers, wild herbs and elixirs” to the larger community, according to Joyce V. Coakley in her book, Sweetgrass Baskets and the Gullah Tradition.

These “flower ladies” garnered support from many white housewives who bought their wares, but other people complained about the women’s sales tactics and said they blocked the streets. This led city officials in 1944 to paint a white line to limit their turf. Crossing it risked being chased by officer “Fast Foot Brown” or having their pay docked $10 (a week’s salary, for many), writes Coakley.

Despite various other restrictions, the flower ladies persisted and became iconic, appearing in magazines, such as National Geographic in 1939, and on postcards. Today, African American artisans still sell their goods — such as sweetgrass baskets and popcorn-berry wreaths — at the Four Corners of Law.

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TOMPSC

Sturdy bundles of sticks, components of Haddrell’s Point Fascine Battery, flatly blocked British in key Revolutionary battle

In December 1775, the Council of Safety ordered Colonel William Moultrie to erect a “fascine battery for four cannon, 18-pounders, at Haddrell’s Point with all convenient dispatch.”

He was directed to use 200 men commanded by a major to construct this battery. Captain Barnard Beekman would provide the artillery regiment to serve as the garrison. The battery was placed at a strategic location on the southern tip of Haddrell’s Point to defend the inner harbor and the Hog Island channel. Named for an early settler, Haddrell’s Point was along the shore facing Charles Town and extended from Shem Creek to Cove Inlet.

Major Charles Cotesworth Pinckney commanding four captains, eight junior officers and two hundred privates joined by a number of mechanics and laborers crossed the harbor under the cover of darkness on Dec. 19, 1775. John Drayton recorded that “on landing at Haddrell’s Point, they fell to work with such spirit, that by daylight they were covered from the shot of the ships,” meaning the walls of the battery were erected. On the following day, the embrasures were completed, gun platforms laid, and the four guns were mounted.

The battery was fifty-eight feet long and protected along the exposed front with 228 fascines. Fascines were long bundles of sticks bound together and used in the building or strengthening of military earthworks and batteries. They were used as early as the Roman Empire era and the technique continued through World War II. As instructed, the new battery was armed with four 18-pound guns on field carriages.

In late December, the new battery successfully chased off the HMS Tamar and HMS Cherokee, still anchored in Charleston Harbor. The British ships moved and set anchor off Sullivan’s Island until they left the region completely on January 6, 1776.

The battery was located at the end of present-day Schweers Lane, adjacent to Pitt Street. The site of the fascine battery was later the site of the Mount Pleasant Mortar Battery and Battery Gary during the Civil War.

Illustrations published in 1858 from Maj. H. Straith's Treatise on Fortifications and Artillery show the construction and installation of fascines.

Developers to transform mid-20th century ice processing operation into top-tier office building

By Jenny Peterson

Contributing writer/CRBJ

An 80-year-old abandoned ice processing plant on Spruill Avenue in North Charleston is getting new life as developers have broken ground to redevelop it into a modern and flexible office park.

Located just one mile away from Park Circle, the complete build-out of The Ice House at Park Circle development will add 46,000 square feet of adaptable use office space among three, two-story buildings — a renovation of the former ice processing building and construction of two new buildings to be added to the property.

Three buildings on the site will be demolished to make way for the contemporary office buildings. Developers are using state tax credits through the S.C. Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act for the renovation of the ice house processing facility.

Pat Marr of Cobalt Property Group and Kevin Klemm of Paragon Commercial Development are partnering on the venture. The project is being designed by The Middleton Group architecture firm, which has designed projects including Blue Acorn, the Lumberyard, The Refinery and The Morris.

“It was a big move for a commercial real estate company to come off the peninsula,” said Jim Garrett, market leader at Colliers, which will lease space in the new development. “We are committed to Marr’s vision, and what he’s doing with the property, and committed to Park Circle’s growth and all the dynamics going on down there. We just think it’s the right place, right time.”

All three buildings will be adaptive use, built-to-suit tenants. Developers anticipate phase one of the park — 23,000 square feet in the former ice processing facility — to open by Thanksgiving 2021. The second phase, another 20,000 square feet in new construction, is set to be open early 2022.

The development is already pre-leased to regional and national tenants, according to the developers. “The whole project is 75% committed in pre-leasing,” Marr said.

Tenants will be Samet Corp., The Middleton Group and Colliers, which will move into suites ranging from 3,000-8,000 square feet in the ice processing facility including open concept areas, glass and original brick.

“We are restoring the outside of the processing facility with the original ice house logo and preserving the interior. We are converting the loading dock on the front of the building, which will be Samet’s main entrance,” Marr said.

Moving forward on an office park development during the COVID-19 pandemic — where many employees were forced to work from home — was a risk, but developers are forecasting that the office space market will bounce back and embrace build-to-suit spaces with creative configurations.

“I think big office users who have gone completely remote are going to need to have ‘touchdown’ spaces for their people, like multiple conference rooms and areas for teams to work,” Garrett said. “With this development, you can get 8,000-10,000 square feet of office space with multiple conference rooms to get employees together on a Tuesday and then go back and work remote from home on Wednesday. It’s a great alternative.”

Developers said the time is ripe for establishing a foothold in the burgeoning Spruill Avenue corridor, which has been spurred by new developments including Firefly Distillery and Holy City Brewery.

“The city of North Charleston wants to redevelop the area after Firefly and Holy City Brewery came into that corridor, and I felt like an office park was the right play,” Marr said.

Marr is excited by plans for the future, including North Charleston taking possession of Spruill Avenue from the S.C. Department of Transportation.

“The city is going in and instituting a plan for Spruill Avenue, where it will be pedestrian-friendly, with a new median, new lighting and plenty of parking,” Marr said. “That’s in conjunction with the Hugh Leatherman terminal, which will have its own flyover off I-26, so trucks will be rerouted to not go up Spruill Avenue.”

Developers said North Charleston’s long-term vision includes a master plan for pedestrian trails and bicycle paths from Riverfront Park by the Naval shipyard across Noisette Creek that will terminate on Spruill Avenue near the development.

“That whole area is being changed from industrial to a mixed-use area with residential, retail and now office space,” Marr said. “This is a long-term hold for us so that as we contribute and others contribute to this market, the area will only go up in value.”

Developers hope the office park will be able to compete with office markets in downtown Charleston and Daniel Island by offering a central Tri-county location with plenty of parking.

Garrett said future plans could set aside 2,000 square feet of space in the office park that could be retail or a food and beverage option.

“For us, it has to be the right retail that will be an amenity for the tenants,” Marr said. “There are three restaurants across the street, but we think a smaller dining option or some kind of amenity that can serve tenants of this project and the surrounding neighborhood would be perfect.”

Home prices surge on Berkeley County inland isle

Daniel Island News

Even with a limited inventory, the Daniel Island real estate market continues to show staggering sales numbers.

Forty-one homes sold in March on Daniel Island. Sales volume for March totaled $51,893,029 compared with $34,525,845 in March 2020, and just $16,666,317 in March 2019.

The least costly home sold was a one-bedroom, one-bath condo at 600 Bucksley Lane for an affordable $172,500. The most expensive home to exchange hands was 370 Ralston Creek St. at a hefty price of $5.45 million. Nineteen homes sold for more than $1 million in March. As of April 14, there were 29 active listings on the island while a whopping 95 properties were under contract.

According to Tricia Peterson with Island House Real Estate, the low supply of available homes and increased demand continues to dictate pricing, and homes are selling in nearly half the time they did last year.

“The real estate market on Daniel Island continues to show expedential growth with house prices climbing every month, especially on waterfront properties,” Peterson noted. “We expect the demand to continue to increase through the spring and summer. We have needed to become more creative with ways to comp properties and find properties for prospective buyers to keep up with this ever-changing market.”

Here's a closer look at the homes that sold in March on Daniel Island and their sale prices from highest to lowest, including:

370 Ralston Creek St. - $5,450,000

61 Watroo Point - $4,900,000

363 Lesesne St. - $3,100,000

544 Park Crossing Drive - $2,700,000

477 Lesesne St. - $2,485,000

117 Brailsford St. - $1,890,000

1556 Wando Landing St. - $1,825,000

122 Ithecaw Creek St. - $1,795,000

2437 Daniel Island Drive - $1,750,000

8 Dalton St. - $1,725,000

131 Island Park Drive - $1,650,000

1840 Beekman St. - $1,565,000

32 Pagett St. - $1,520,000

536 Lesesne St. - $1,500,000

506 Lesesne St. - $1,499,000

611 Daggett St. - $1,200,000

1261 Smythe St. - $1,069,900

160 King George St. - $1,050,000

610 Daggett St. - $1,025,000

1226 Smythe St. - $985,000

258 Beresford Creek St. - $975,000

2566 Daniel Island Drive - $900,000

935 Etiwan Park St. - $855,000

1050 Blakeway St. - $835,000

1006 Cochran St. - $815,000

1705 Frissel St. - $799,900

112 Currier St. - $760,000

105 Jordan Court - $739,000

7794 Farr St. - $691,729

136 Bounty St. - $680,000

1882 Pierce St. - $395,000

200 River Landing Drive #F105 - $385,000

200 River Landing Drive #F305 - $382,500

200 River Landing Drive #D105 - $380,000

145 Pier View St. #410 - $300,000

130 River Landing Drive #10100 - $251,000

130 River Landing Drive #2210 - $250,000

100 Bucksley Lane #305 - $239,500

200 Bucksley Lane #307 - $230,000

130 River Landing Drive #2115 - $173,000

600 Bucksley Lane #305 -$172,500.

Raised more than two decades ago, the CSS H.L. Hunley has undergone extensive study yielding significant finds

By Suzannah Smith Miles

On the night of Feb. 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley slipped out of Breach Inlet and headed for the Federal blockading fleet offshore; her target was the sloop-of-war U.S.S. Housatonic.

She plunged a spar torpedo into the side of that 1,260-ton ship, making history as the first sub to sink an enemy vessel in combat. But the Hunley never returned to shore, and her whereabouts remained a mystery for 131 years — until she was finally found off the coast of Sullivan’s Island. On August 8, 2000, as cannons boomed; church bells pealed; and thousands watched from boats, beaches, bridges, and the Battery, the Hunley was raised.

Here, learn more about her past — and present.

FORWARD CHARGE: The sub’s original design called for a spar torpedo attached to a 22-foot wooden spar mounted to the bow. The Hunley was to ram the spar into the enemy ship, then back off and detonate the torpedo. Scientific findings indicate that the spar was actually iron and more of a ”contact mine” only 17 feet long. That means the sub was less than 20 feet from the Housatonic when the torpedo exploded. One theory is that the crew was knocked unconscious — an idea supported by the fact that their remains were found at their stations.

CRAMPED QUARTERS: The Hunley was only 39 feet long, 4.5 feet high, and 3.5 feet across. She carried a crew of eight — seven to turn the hand-cranked propeller and one to steer the boat. Each end of the craft was equipped with water ballast tanks that could be flooded via valves (to lower the sub) or pumped dry by hand (to raise it).

BEFORE ITS TIME: The submarine was, at the time, an invention stretching the boundaries of innovation, and the Hunley’s crew members have been called the astronaut test pilots of their time. Two crews of men (including one of its inventors, Horace Hunley) perished in earlier Hunley dives, and they were buried together at Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery. On April 17, 2004, the remains of the third crew joined them, laid to rest with full military honors.

LUCKY GOLD: Near the remains of Hunley commander Lieutenant George Dixon, archaeologists found a $20 gold piece with the inscription “Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D.” This appears to be the coin described in Dixon family lore: George’s sweetheart gave it to him as a lucky charm, and tucked in his pocket, it diverted a bullet at the Battle of Shiloh, saving his leg (and maybe his life).

RAISING HISTORY: The recovery of the Hunley is generally considered to be among the most important underwater archaeological expeditions of the century. After the ship was raised, it was carried by barge up the Cooper River to the specially designed Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston.

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Norman Newton: He fought the good fight

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Shrimping season opens in full along South Carolina coast

Staff and wire reports

CHARLESTON - The shrimping season opened last week, and some trawlers are eager to drop their nets.

Shrimping season in South Carolina typically starts in spring with the opening of a small subset of waters, called provisional areas, that allow shrimpers to take advantage of the harvest offshore while still protecting the majority of shrimp that have yet to spawn, state Department of Natural Resources officials say.

South Carolina’s provisional areas opened on April 26 this year. The remainder of the harvest area, called the General Trawl Zone, is much larger.

"After a slightly cooler start to spring, things now look pretty normal for this time of year,” SCDNR Office of Fisheries Management Director Mel Bell said.

“We’ve seen adequate evidence of coast-wide maturation and spawning of white shrimp," he said. "This is the same date we opened the season in full last year.”

Bell said that a mild winter and promising results from the state’s sampling of the shrimp population made it an ideal time to open the season. State regulators want to make sure that female white shrimp have spawned at least once before allowing the catch to start, and late May is a typical time for them to make that call.

“We had really good overwintering shrimp numbers,” Bell said. “Over the past several years we’ve seen a lot of larger shrimp offshore that are probably coming down from up north, just because of the range expansion of (white) shrimp.”

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Hitt: Commerce Communications

South Carolina takes pride in being one of the most military-friendly states in the nation. More than just an important pillar of our economy, the military’s footprint in our state plays a vital role in the identity of our local communities – with the men and women of the armed services helping make South Carolina the special place it is.

In addition to protecting our nation, a strong military presence is a significant economic engine. Home to eight major installations and several other facilities, the armed forces have a total economic impact of $25.3 billion in South Carolina, employing approximately 55,000 personnel.

Team South Carolina is committed to supporting these facilities, along with the many veteran-owned businesses and defense contractors across our state.

From fighter jets to military meals, more than 700 defense-related firms have operations within our borders. To name just a few – Lockheed Martin manufactures F-16 Fighting Falcons at its production line in Greenville County. SOPAKCO produces meals ready to eat, known as MREs, in Marion County. And, SAIC provides technology integration and solutions that support the military through its operations in Berkeley County.

Retired service members also add to our state’s talented entrepreneurial and workforce pools. Veteran-owned businesses such as Tactical Medical Solutions in Anderson County and Defense Engineering Services in Charleston County are helping shape their communities with capital investment and job creation. And, retired military personnel are assets to the state’s workforce – having gained valuable skills that translate across various industries.

As we mark Memorial Day – a time for reflection and gratitude for our nation’s armed forces – we salute the brave men and women who work each day to protect our way of life. Team S.C. recognizes the vital role the military plays in our protection, our communities and our economy – and we offer our sincerest thanks.

Bobby Hitt is a Charleston native and South Carolina Commerce Secretary.

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What we love about Charleston

Charleston Currents

Gary Crossley of Charleston sent in a list of what he loves about the Charleston in which he was born. He loves it so much, he tells us, that he even assigned the name Charleston as his son’s middle name.

Gary’s list of reasons for loving Charleston (the city):

-- The city is not too big or too small.

-- Cobblestone streets had pirates like Blackbeard/Edward Teach and Stede Bonnet roaming nearby 200 hundred plus years ago.

-- The various waterways, from marshes to creeks, rivers flowing to the ocean, pluff mud to tidal basins, and lakes to ponds, all seemingly interconnected.

-- A diversity of food from barbecue to seafood and fresh produce to grits, prepared in so many delicious/tasty ways.

-- Music of all types, classical, rap, jazz, Cajun/zydeco, country, Broadway, from local stars like Hootie/Darius and Edwin McCain to Shovels & Ropes.

-- The churches of all types dotting the Holy City from Emanuel AME to the French Huguenot to the Circular Congregation, some with graveyards dating back centuries.

-- Trees, like the amazing hundreds-of-years-old Angel Oak with alluring limbs like arms ready to embrace you with beauty and many Charleston drives from the trees reaching across the roads in a canopy like kissing trees.

-- The people who are not overbearing but also so willing to help with directions, roadside assistance, restaurant tips, shopping ideas and maybe just a warm hello greeting.

-- The history from many firsts (preserved -- not rebuilt fake -- houses, Rainbow Row colors, earthquake rods and side porches) to Porgy and Bess/Gershwin to having a song/dance named after the city, and world-class festivals like Spoleto Arts to Moja celebration to Flowertown to Second Sundays to Family Circle to the Cooper River Bridge Run.

-- Various languages (international visitors and transplanted folks) and dialects (Gullah, Southern, and Geechee) spoken in the area dating back to the late 1600s when people came from around the world to trade their goods and share their artistic talent.

Maybe it is the combination of all these factors which keep us ahead of New Orleans, Savannah, Santa Fe and others?

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