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Edward Rutledge House,Charleston, South Carolina, United States

"The Edward Rutledge House, also known as the Carter-May House and now The Governor's House Inn, is a historic house at 117 Broad Street in Charleston, South Carolina. This 18th-century house was the home of Founding Father Edward Rutledge (1749–1800), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and later Governor of South Carolina. Despite many changes to the house, it retains its 18th-century core dating to about 1760, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

 

The Edward Rutledge House is located in historic Charleston, at the southwest corner of Broad and Orange Streets. It is a large Charleston double house, two stories in height, with a hip roof and clapboard siding. It is oriented as many Charleston houses are, with a two-story porch facing to the right side. The facade facing Broad Street has a gable at the center of the roof, which is fully pedimented and has modillions lining its outline. An entrance is located in the center of the main five bays, topped by a transom window and gabled pediment, and flanked by sidelight windows. The interior, which has undergone much alteration due to varied uses of the house, still retains some of its original features.

 

The house is most notable as the home of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Rutledge, a South Carolina native, was trained in England in the law, and had by the time of the American Revolution established a law practice in Charleston. He served in the First and Second Continental Congresses, and spent time during the American Revolutionary War as a prisoner of war, having been captured in the 1780 Siege of Charleston. He served as Governor of South Carolina from 1798 to his death in 1800.

 

The home is now a bed and breakfast. Images of the renovations can be seen on its website.

 

Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had a population of 150,277 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. The 2020 population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 799,636 residents, the third-largest in the state and the 74th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

 

Charleston was founded in 1670 as Charles Town, honoring King Charles II, at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River (now Charles Towne Landing) but relocated in 1680 to its present site, which became the fifth-largest city in North America within ten years. It remained unincorporated throughout the colonial period; its government was handled directly by a colonial legislature and a governor sent by Parliament. Election districts were organized according to Anglican parishes, and some social services were managed by Anglican wardens and vestries. Charleston adopted its present spelling with its incorporation as a city in 1783. Population growth in the interior of South Carolina influenced the removal of the state government to Columbia in 1788, but Charleston remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census.

 

Charleston's significance in American history is tied to its role as a major slave trading port. Charleston slave traders like Joseph Wragg were the first to break through the monopoly of the Royal African Company and pioneered the large-scale slave trade of the 18th century; almost one half of slaves imported to the United States arrived in Charleston. In 2018, the city formally apologized for its role in the American Slave trade after CNN noted that slavery "riddles the history" of Charleston." - info from Wikipedia.

 

The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

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Uploaded on March 29, 2023
Taken on October 31, 2022