Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site - Part III - History Trail

After leaving the animal area we began to explore the other trails on the grounds of Charles Towne Landing.

Interpretive Trails: The park provides seven miles of paved and unpaved trails. Walk along the marsh or through the 80 acres of park-style gardens, featuring thousands of azaleas, camellias and live oaks, some several hundred years old.
History Trail: Visitors may also stroll through the original settlement area of 1670-1680 complete with reconstructed fortifications, protective palisade and crop garden.
--from Charles Towne Landing SHS website

Left towards the history trail!

Not only is there history of European colonization on the site, but even older Native American history.

This sculpture depicts the Kiawah chief, or Cassique who "invited the new English settlers to build their village here at Albemarle Point."

This historic bathtub, probably built in the early 1800s, is the first of its kind that archaeologists have identified in Charleston.  It is unique because its owner placed it in the plantation house instead of a separate outbuilding.
--from exhibit signage

This reproduction of the colony's palisade wall shows how they protected themselves against threats that could have come from Native Americans or the Spanish.

Public punishment was a part of colonial life.  Lashes or the stocks were commonly utilized instead of long-term imprisonment.

It was raining at this point so I didn't get a close look at the garden.

We rushed through the rain into this reproduction house that illustrated the type of "common lodging" that may have been used for servants.  Inside a first-person interpreter told us mroe about the dwelling and what life would have been like.

Once the rain died down we headed out the other side and I got a better picture of the building.

Charles Towne was founded shortly after the end of an Anglo-Spanish war and was located on land also claimed by the Spanish, so the colonists had reason to be afraid of attack.

Normally there is a ship docked here that you can board, the Adventure, but sadly it was undergoing its annual maintenance.

This skeleton of a ship "depicts the earliest stage of shipbuilding--hull construction.  It starts with the ship's backbone, or keel, and then the stern, ribs, and sternpost are attached."  This is the same size as the Adventure normally docked nearby.

The ship's skeleton was really interesting to examine.

Saint Augustine, in Spanish Florida, was much closer than many British cities.

The next portion of the path was over a boardwalk in marshy land.

The view was beautiful as we walked.

This reproduction building "represents the construction techniques that might have been used at early Charles Towne" as it isn't known for sure what methods were utilized.

This side shows you wattle and daub construction methods.

The actual remnants of the original palisade wall are in an enclosed structure.

Here is what the excavated area looks like inside.

This house was being used for a wedding so we weren't able to get very close.

The view down the aisle of trees was especially gorgeous.

We saw what looked like an egret by the water, though at first it was so still I wasn't sure if it was fake or a real bird.

A minute later it took off flying.

All in all Charles Towne Landing is a wonderful state park to visit.  You can see even more photos by opening the entire album.  If you're in the area definitely make plans to visit.

~Matt