Bridgeside Tour
Tour Description
Bridges are a very important part of Mount Pleasant life today. Before 1929, people had to depend on ferries to take them from Mount Pleasant to Charleston. This tour shows the history of the bridges from Mount Pleasant to Charleston and the historical sites around the Ravenel Bridge.
Locations for Tour
Arthur Ravenel, JR Bridge
Named by an Act of the General Assembly in honor of State Senate Arthur Ravenel, Jr., who enthusiastically spearheaded a broad-based effort to secure the funds for its construction Arthur Ravenel, Jr. was born in 1927, and is a Native of Charleston,…
The Cooper River Bridge
On August 8, 1929, a grand three day celebration and parade opened the first bridge to span Charleston Harbor. Built as a private toll bridge in 17 months for $6 million, it was a major link between Maine and Florida. With its steep inclines, dip,…
Silas N. Pearman Bridge
By the 1950s, the Grace Bridge‘s narrow two-way lanes no longer served the growing area. A new three lane bridge without dips and curves opened next to the old bridge in 1966 and was named for Silas N. Pearman, chief commissioner of the state highway…
Old Sunken Hull
Commissioned on Oct 18, 1919, the Army Quartermaster River Steamer Col. J. E. Sawyer was the first concrete passenger vessel made in America. The 700-ton, 128.5-foot ship, able to carry 500 people, was one of nine built from 1919-1920 by the Newport…
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
The South Carolina General Assembly passed legislation in 1973 enabling the establishment of the Patriots Point Authority to develop a portion of Hog Island as a national naval museum. The museum opened on October 13, 1975, the 200th birthday of the…
Hog Island
Now called Patriots Point, Hog Island played a crucial role in the defense of the Charleston Harbor. In 1775, Patriot forces were sinking old ships in the deep Hog Island Channel to block British access to the Wando and Cooper Rivers. They were fired…
USS Yorktown (CV-10)
The keel for the aircraft carrier BonHomme Richard was laid down December 1, 1941, six days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The vessel was renamed USS Yorktown (CV-10) in honor of the original carrier Yorktown (CV-5), the only U.S. carrier lost at…
Milton's Ferry Tavern
By 1832, Milton’s Ferry offered a ferry service to and from Charleston by way of a canal dug through the marsh. The ferry tavern was a two-sided house with stables and carriage houses to ser travelers. A Bi-weekly stage ran from the tavern to…
Channel 2 & Suzie Q
On September 25, 1954, WUSN, the second television station in Charleston, signed onto the airwaves as a NBC affiliate. The call letters stood for U.S. Navy in an effort to gain a loyal following among Charleston Navy Yard personnel. Early local…