005: Sinking City 111 / South Of Broad
And so it begins… “South of Broad,” the neighborhood wedged between Broad Street and the Battery, is the oldest inhabited section of peninsular Charleston, serving double duty as residential neighborhood and colonial commercial epicenter. Things were smaller then, and certainly more simple, but they became complex and quite a bit more exciting in short order. Fast forward to our modern era, and this neighborhood is perhaps one of the most recognizable tourist destinations in the United States, if not the world, replete with grand mansions, intricate gardens, and cobbled, carriage-wide streets all hung heavy with history like the Spanish moss on its centuries-old live oaks. White Point Gardens and The Battery anchor the area, and are home to more than a few fun facts. Three hundred years ago, pirates swung from the gallows on full display as active warning for all to see. In later years the site played host to city spectators anxious to witness the barrage of canon fire that formally began the American Civil War. A rather formidable playbill by any measure.
It only makes good sense then that our project commence here, rubbing shoulders with the high points of your middle-school American History textbook. In all honesty, it needs to start here. Finishing the run here would feel anticlimactic - a little too scripted, an ending anticipated before the adventure even began. In our effort to learn every inch of the city on foot, it wouldn’t make sense to finish in perhaps its most widely explored and exploited borough. Not to mention our penchant for doing things ass-backwards. Or as we say around the shop, “be different or be damned.” So we will start here, lace up under the long guns and run the 10 or 11 miles that we’ve run countless times in different, shorter combinations. But this time we will be fueled by the beginning of an adventure, a first, a “never been done” - a grand expedition into our own backyard. We’re excited to begin, and if you’ve found us, we’re glad that you did. We hope you might follow along…
SC111 Segment #1 - South of Broad Street Map: The historic neighborhood was not as high and dry as it appears today. Bounded by “The Battery” on three sides, this grand neighborhood was historically more wet than dry. Total area of artificial fill and streets built thereon exceeds original high ground. You couldn’t even cover half of this neighborhood on a run “back in the day.”
SC111 Segment #1 - South of Broad SLR Map: Even modest sea level rise (SLR) will have significant impacts on this neighborhood. It’s not hard to imagine a future scenario in which life South of Broad - living, moving, recreating - looks dramatically different.
