n.
Seaport city (pop., 2000: 96,650), southeastern South Carolina, U.S. Originally called Charles Towne, it was founded by English colonists in 1670.
During the American Revolution it was held by the British (178082). Known as Charleston from 1783, it was the chief U.S. winter port until the War of 1812 . In 1861 the Confederate capture of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor precipitated the American Civil War . Blockaded by Union forces, it was under siege (186365), then evacuated by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman 's forces. It was seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1886 and a hurricane in 1989. It is the site of the College of Charleston (1770), The Citadel (1842), and the Charleston Museum (1773), the oldest museum in the U.S.