Best Web Design in Charleston, SC (2026)

Web Design for Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is South Carolina's oldest and largest city, a peninsular seaport founded in 1670 whose cobblestone streets, pastel Rainbow Row, and hundreds of church steeples earned it the nickname 'The Holy City.' Its history runs deep and painful: nearly 40 percent of enslaved Africans brought to North America landed here, and the Civil War's first shots were fired at Fort Sumter in its harbor. Today the city spans three counties, extending into Berkeley County via Daniel Island and the Cainhoy peninsula, and pairs a booming port and aerospace economy with a celebrated food and festival culture.

AppWT works with Charleston, SC businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Charleston

Also known as. The Holy City. Chucktown. Silicon Harbor. Little London (historic).

History. English settlers established Charles Town in 1670 across the Ashley River, naming it for King Charles II; by 1680 it moved to the current peninsula. Settlers came from England, Barbados, and Virginia, and the early economy centered on the deerskin trade and pine timber and pitch. Charleston became a principal North American port of entry for the transatlantic slave trade, where nearly 40 percent of enslaved Africans arrived. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. A magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck in 1886, damaging roughly 2,000 buildings; earthquake bolts on historic homes date from repairs afterward. The modern city expanded across the harbor and rivers into Daniel Island and Cainhoy in Berkeley County and West Ashley in Dorchester County.

Local economy. The Port of Charleston is one of the busiest container ports in the United States and a major regional economic driver. Boeing operates a large facility assembling the 787 Dreamliner in North Charleston, anchoring an aerospace cluster. Joint Base Charleston is a major military installation combining Air Force and Navy operations. A growing technology sector earned the region the nickname 'Silicon Harbor.' Tourism is a cornerstone industry, drawing millions to the historic district each year. Mercedes-Benz Vans and Volvo Cars operate manufacturing plants in the greater Charleston area.

Culture and community. Spoleto Festival USA, founded in 1977 and named for Spoleto, Italy, fills the city's theaters and churches with opera, dance, theater, and music each spring. Lowcountry cuisine features she-crab soup, shrimp and grits, and Gullah Geechee cooking rooted in the coastal African American community. She-crab soup was popularized in the early 1900s when chef William Deas added crab roe while serving Mayor R. Goodwyn Rhett. The Charleston, a 1920s dance craze, took its name and rhythms from the city's African American communities. The historic City Market and downtown farmers markets remain centers of local commerce and craft, including sweetgrass basket weaving. The Gullah Geechee culture and language of the surrounding Sea Islands is a distinctive living heritage.

What makes Charleston distinct. Charleston is called 'The Holy City' for its skyline of hundreds of church steeples and its early reputation for religious tolerance; St. Matthew's Lutheran steeple rises about 297 feet. The city legally spans three counties: Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester. The 1886 earthquake left 'earthquake bolts' and washer plates visible on many downtown facades, installed to brace damaged walls. The Charleston Museum, established in 1773, predates the founding of the United States. The South Carolina Golf Club, formed in Charleston in 1786, is regarded as the first golf club in America. The pineapple, a symbol of Southern hospitality, is memorialized in the city's Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park.

Charleston Landmarks and Local Life

• Rainbow Row - a stretch of pastel-colored historic Georgian houses
• The Battery and White Point Garden - a waterfront promenade lined with antebellum mansions
• Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston Harbor.
• The Angel Oak on Johns Island - a Southern live oak estimated at 300 to 400 years old, about 65 feet tall and shading some 17,000 square feet
• The historic City Market and Market Hall.
• The Charleston Museum - founded in 1773 and often called the first museum in the United States