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Here
are some recent updates from Charles Towne Landing. Check
back often for new information!
By: Rob Powell, Park Manager
Visitors to the newly renovated Charles Towne Landing State
Historic Site can not only see history come alive, now they
can hear it. The park has installed an audio tour system on
its history trail to help visitors better understand the 665-acre
site where the first permanent European settlement in South
Carolina was established in 1670.
The mile-and-a half trail winds from the new Visitors Center,
by the Native American Ceremonial Center site, to Albemarle
Point on Old Towne Creek. This is where the original fortifications
have been reconstructed and where the Adventure construction
is taking place. From there, the trail winds past the Legare-Waring
House, the former home of Ferdinanda Legare-Waring who sold
the property to the state of South Carolina in 1969.
There are now 22 marked stops along the trail where visitors
who rent the MP3 players may hear detailed accounts of the
exhibits or areas that they are viewing; these audio stops
include archaeological excavations, the reconstructed palisade
wall, fullsize and functional cannon reproductions, a crop
garden, and the reproduction of the Adventure. The audio players
are rented for $5.00 and are available during the regular
park hours of 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. daily. The play time
of the recordings is about 40 minutes; the walking tour is
about 90 minutes.
By: John Hiatt, Interpretive Ranger
Since the grand reopening in mid-August, the Education Department
has been busy presenting interpretive programs to both the
general visitor and school groups. Between the months of September
and December, we averaged two Discover Carolina (DC) curriculum-based
programs a week, in addition to hosting many more self-guided
groups.
In early December, the sounds of saws and hammers could be
heard in the park as work commenced on our new Indentured
Servants’ Quarters, which is an exciting addition to
the fortified area. The frame and roof of this gable-ended
building have been completed, and park staff will begin installing
the clapboard siding in early January. We hope to have it
furnished and open to the public by early spring.
With a grant generously provided by the South Carolina Cable
Television Association (SCCTA), we have been able to produce
a new activity book to augment our third-grade DC program,
“Survival Through Success.” SCCTA funds were also
used to enhance The Trade Game, a key component of the “Survival
Through Success” program, with professionally designed
panels and more-durable trade cards.
Three new saker cannons arrived last fall to bolster CTL’s
fortifications. Our “Fears That Fortified Charles Towne”
program, which features demonstrations of black powder weapons
(such as the matchlock musket and the saker cannon), has been
quite popular and well attended on weekends. We would like
to extend a special thanks to our cannon crew members from
other SC State Parks. Their time and teamwork make it possible
for us to provide such spectacular firings. Finally, the Education
Department would like to thank volunteers Bobby Luff and Van
Slate for their assistance as range guards during artillery
demonstrations.
A new Adventure is being built by Rockport Marine in Massachusetts
and is expected on-site by November 2008. Click
here to view the new boat construction in progress.
Construction now complete.
New trail now under construction.
The habitats have been renovated and the animals are back!
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