As if post-war Charleston didn’t have enough challenges, fires, hurricanes and a devastating earthquake added to the recovery woes.
“With the 1880s looming, Charleston still hadn’t remedied much of the damage inflicted on it by the war, and a serious fire had raged up King Street in 1876, eventually spreading to St. Philip’s. More than 100 of the city’s poorest families were left homeless.
Charleston’s finances remained in shambles, a result of Reconstruction-era corruption, and nearly 90% of the peninsula’s water supply was tainted by leaking privies. Diphtheria and scarlet fever epidemics claimed hundreds of local lives each year.
National leaders proclaimed Charleston one of the most disease-ridden cities in the country.”
CLICK HERE TO READ the 30th installment of the Post & Courier’s Brian Hicks columns celebrating 350 years of Charleston history.
For links to all 30 (so far) Hicks columns, CLICK HERE.