THE ICHNOGRAPHY OF CHARLES-TOWN AT HIGH WATER

Unlike Virginia and Maryland, where the geography inhibited the development of towns, the peninsula of land located between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers in South Carolina was ideally suited for Charleston to become the most thriving of all southern ports until the eve of the Civil War. A small inset in the upper left corner of The ICHNOGRAPHY of CHARLES-TOWN. at High Water illustrates the site chosen for the city sometime around 1680.  The main portion of the map depicts the grid pattern of the streets, identified by name in the legend below. The location of public buildings is also noted.

Like most maps of the period, close examination of the features often reveals the mapmakers motivations for publishing their works. Information was frequently conveyed through decoration, nomenclature, or the inclusion or omission of certain details. When Charleston was originally laid out, it was contained within the fortified walls still visible in the center of the plan. As explained in the text below the legend, three sides of the fort had been removed over twenty years before this map was drawn:

The Double Lines represent the Enceinte as fortified by the Inhabitants for their defence against the French Spaniards & without it were only a few Houses & these not safe until after the signal Defeat of ye Indians in the Year 1717, at which time the North West & South sides were dismantled & demolished to enlarge the Town.

By illustrating the original fortification surrounding the town, removed over two decades earlier, the mapmakers were not presenting an up-to-date plan. Rather, its inclusion and the relevant text provided a promotional dimension to the map. Not only did the mapmakers wish to convey a sense of Charleston’s prosperity, having outgrown its original bounds, but they aimed to reassure that the city was now safe from attacks from each of their former enemies. This aspect was further supported in the dedication contained within the rococo cartouche that noted that “the battle-lines of the Indians, the French and the Spanish have been put to flight, their stratagems reduced to smoke and vapors.”