KING STREET
King Street, named for England's monarch, was the early settlement’s main highway into Charles Town, down the narrow "Neck" from the interior. It followed a ridge of high ground between the many creeks and marshes lacing the peninsula. The road was known variously as "The Broad Path," the "High Way" and "The Broad Road." Those names continued to be applied to that part of the street above Beaufain Street until after the Revolution. During the latter part of the 18th and early part of the 19th centuries, the upper part of King Street became the center of the wagon trade. Wagon drivers from the interior traded country products for store goods. From the mid 19th to the early 20th century, King Street was a regional retail emporium.
King Street ended at South Battery until 1911 when it was extended southward to newly created Murray Boulevard.
By the 1970s, King Street had become an example of urban blight, as residents and retail stores fled to the suburbs, beginning in the 1950s. Historic Charleston Foundation Executive Director Frances R. Edmunds called King Street “the weak, sick spine of the city.” Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. undertook the challenging revitalization of King Street by bringing in the Omni Place Hotel (now Charleston Place), amid huge controversy from locals and preservation groups. The arrival of the Omni, in the end, did succeed in revitalizing the area of King below Calhoun, bringing in new shops and businesses.
Then, beginning in the 1990s, a renewal effort began along King Street above Calhoun Street. Known as Upper King Street, or the Design District, this revitalization is marked by new boutique retail stores, marvelous restaurants and cafes, and cultural venues such as the Charleston Ballet Theatre, American Theater, and Charleston Music Hall. The transformation began with the rehabilitation of the old S.C. Railroad Complex (the block bounded by Meeting, John, King and Mary streets) into a vital new Visitors Center and the offices of the Metro Chamber of Commerce. The old Gas Engine Building (formerly the Chamber of Commerce) now serves as the Sol Blatt Jr. Law Library of the Charleston School of Law, which has rehabilitated former store fronts into classrooms and administrative offices from 414 King St. (the old Chase Furniture Building) to Mary Street.
They call it Charleston’s Second Civil War.
By the early 1970s, the Holy City’s historic retail district along King and Meeting streets was suffering the fate of many downtown areas. In 1972 Northwoods Mall, the region’s first indoor shopping center, opened in North Charleston with 101 stores all conveniently under one roof, and a movie theater to boot. Everyone hopped in their cars and headed to the suburbs for this exciting, new shopping experience. Downtown began dying a slow commercial death. One by one, shop windows were boarded up and shades drawn.
Palmer Gaillard, Charleston’s mayor from 1959-1975, began gathering urban design experts to explore ways to rejuvenate the city’s retail center. When Joseph P. Riley Jr. assumed the mayor’s office in 1975, he made the challenge a top priority. What Charleston needed, planners proposed, was a major hotel and convention center that would bring people back to walk, and therefore shop, along Charleston’s downtown streets. Realizing this vision, however, would require the redevelopment of a major city block in the very heart of Charleston’s historic downtown, bounded by King, Market, Meeting and Hasell streets. More than 40 buildings, many pre-dating the Civil War, would be impacted or demolished for the new center. Charleston’s nationally renowned preservation community gave a collective gasp of shock. For a moment, you could hear a pin drop – but just for a moment before the cacophony began.
Historic Charleston Foundation, focused on preserving the city’s historic character, held back initially, neither supporting nor opposing the concept publicly. The Preservation Society of Charleston, however, with a more intense focus on protecting old buildings, was having none of it. The leaders of Charleston’s business, social and political communities, as well as many residents living both within and outside of the city’s Old and Historic District, were active supporters of at least one, and often both, preservation groups. Not since the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter in 1861 had an issue so pitted brother against brother and, in this case, sister against sister, like the redevelopment of what would become known as Charleston Place.
The ensuing saga of arguments and compromises is a long one. Many members of the Preservation Society found some solace in a decision to preserve the historic façades of 209 to 235 Meeting Street, though they remained disgruntled about gutting the buildings’ rears for the hotel’s parking lot. Historic Charleston Foundation played a significant role in influencing the height, scale and mass of the new center, while expressing concerned about the impact of increased tourism. Everyone won a few concessions and lost others. After nearly a decade of controversy, lawsuits, countersuits, editorials, name-calling, threats, design reviews and revisions, compromise carried the day and city leaders broke ground on the new center in 1985. It would be years before many old friends patched up their differences.
Charleston’s historic downtown remains the shopping and dining hub for the region. Downtown retail, anchored by King Street, draws a strong and varied customer base. With its remarkable history and eclectic mix of fashion, art, antiques, home décor, and extraordinary food, King Street is the most vibrant and distinctive downtown in America. King Street is a perfect blend of local, regional, and national shops that remains the place to be for retailers of all types.
Business and Neighborhood Services maintains a database of King Street properties. The database is updated by walking the length of King Street from Broad to Line Street and taking inventory of vacant and/or transitioning storefronts, talking to retailers/owners/operators, and generally surveying the “King Street Experience.”
