West Ashley
Encyclopedia
West Ashley is one of the six distinct areas of the city proper of Charleston, South Carolina
, with an estimated 2010 population of 57,403. Its name is derived from the fact that the land is west of the Ashley River
. A few skirmishes took place there in the American Revolution
and in the Civil War
. There were several earthworks here in the Civil War, including those at Fort Bull near present day Bees Ferry Road, and those at Rantowles Creek (also home to a Revolutionary War Skirmish). At a nearby neighborhood known as Red Top, there was a Civil War railroad and phosphate mines. West Ashley is noted as the birthplace of Charleston
as English colonists established the first permanent settlement in the Carolinas there in 1670. The 663 acres (2.7 km²) area where the settlers first stepped ashore along the banks of the Ashley River has been preserved as a state historic site known as Charles Towne Landing which features Charleston's only zoo, beautiful gardens and a reproduction seventeenth century sailing vessel among other historical and educational amenities.
Flanked by the scenic waterfront vistas and marshes of the Ashley and Stono Rivers and ancient moss draped oak trees, West Ashley's initial neighborhoods were developed in the 1950s with its largest growth occurring throughout the 1970s and 80's. As Interstate 526 was built in the early 1980s and the Glenn McConnell Parkway was built in the 1990s to help alleviate traffic on the historic Ashley River Road (SC Hwy. 61) corridor, the area saw explosive residential and commercial growth. Major retailers located in the community as land needed for "big box" stores was not available on the historic downtown Charleston peninsula.
West Ashley's original neighborhoods line Savannah Highway (US Hwy. 17) in an area closest to the historic Charleston peninsula. Its first retail district, built in the 1950s, is seeing a revitalization with many art and design oriented businesses having located there in recent years.
West Ashley is the area where Darius Rucker
, lead singer of the band Hootie and the Blowfish grew up. He attended Middleton High School.
The community is served by one public high school, West Ashley High School with 2017 students and 135 full-time teachers. There are also five public elementary schools, three public middle schools and numerous private schools in the West Ashley area including Porter-Gaud School
, a K-12 grade college preparatory school founded in 1867.
The community's major arteries include Sam Rittenberg Boulevard (SC Hwy. 7), Ashley River Road (SC Hwy. 61), Savannah Highway (US Hwy. 17) and Interstate 526. It is also home to the region's largest indoor shopping mall, Citadel Mall and the area's newest hospital, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital which along with the mall is also one its largest employers. WCSC-TV Channel 5
, the area's CBS affiliate and first television station to sign on the air in Charleston in 1953 moved to a newly constructed broadcast facility in West Ashley in 1997. West Ashley also has an independent community newspaper called West Of, which publishes news pertaining to the area on a weekly basis.
West Ashley is not a self-governed city or town. The majority of the West Ashley area is located within the city limits of Charleston
with a few remaining pockets in unincorporated Charleston County that are served by the Saint Andrews Public Service District who provides municipal services for those outside the city limits.
http://www.dot.state.sc.us/community/ashley_river.shtml | Historic Ashley River Road
http://www.charlestownelanding.travel/ | Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site
http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/13794/links.html | Ashley River Road Links
http://www.draytonhall.org/ | Historic Drayton Hall
http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/ | Historic Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
http://www.ci.charleston.sc.us/home/default.aspx | The Official Website of the City of Charleston
http://lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/u?/SPA,177 | Byrnes Downs Garden Club Scrapbook
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, with an estimated 2010 population of 57,403. Its name is derived from the fact that the land is west of the Ashley River
Ashley River (South Carolina)
The Ashley River is a blackwater / tidal river in South Carolina, rising from the Wassamassaw and Great Cypress Swamps in western Berkeley County. It consolidates its main channel about five miles west of Summerville, widening into a tidal estuary just south of Fort Dorchester...
. A few skirmishes took place there in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. There were several earthworks here in the Civil War, including those at Fort Bull near present day Bees Ferry Road, and those at Rantowles Creek (also home to a Revolutionary War Skirmish). At a nearby neighborhood known as Red Top, there was a Civil War railroad and phosphate mines. West Ashley is noted as the birthplace of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
as English colonists established the first permanent settlement in the Carolinas there in 1670. The 663 acres (2.7 km²) area where the settlers first stepped ashore along the banks of the Ashley River has been preserved as a state historic site known as Charles Towne Landing which features Charleston's only zoo, beautiful gardens and a reproduction seventeenth century sailing vessel among other historical and educational amenities.
Flanked by the scenic waterfront vistas and marshes of the Ashley and Stono Rivers and ancient moss draped oak trees, West Ashley's initial neighborhoods were developed in the 1950s with its largest growth occurring throughout the 1970s and 80's. As Interstate 526 was built in the early 1980s and the Glenn McConnell Parkway was built in the 1990s to help alleviate traffic on the historic Ashley River Road (SC Hwy. 61) corridor, the area saw explosive residential and commercial growth. Major retailers located in the community as land needed for "big box" stores was not available on the historic downtown Charleston peninsula.
West Ashley's original neighborhoods line Savannah Highway (US Hwy. 17) in an area closest to the historic Charleston peninsula. Its first retail district, built in the 1950s, is seeing a revitalization with many art and design oriented businesses having located there in recent years.
West Ashley is the area where Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber...
, lead singer of the band Hootie and the Blowfish grew up. He attended Middleton High School.
The community is served by one public high school, West Ashley High School with 2017 students and 135 full-time teachers. There are also five public elementary schools, three public middle schools and numerous private schools in the West Ashley area including Porter-Gaud School
Porter-Gaud School
Porter-Gaud School is an independent coeducational college preparatory day school in Charleston, South Carolina. Porter-Gaud has an enrollment of some 870 students in grades 1–12 and located on the banks of the Ashley River...
, a K-12 grade college preparatory school founded in 1867.
The community's major arteries include Sam Rittenberg Boulevard (SC Hwy. 7), Ashley River Road (SC Hwy. 61), Savannah Highway (US Hwy. 17) and Interstate 526. It is also home to the region's largest indoor shopping mall, Citadel Mall and the area's newest hospital, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital which along with the mall is also one its largest employers. WCSC-TV Channel 5
WCSC-TV
WCSC-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for South Carolina's Lowcountry area licensed to Charleston. Its broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Awendaw. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 5 as well as Comcast and Knology...
, the area's CBS affiliate and first television station to sign on the air in Charleston in 1953 moved to a newly constructed broadcast facility in West Ashley in 1997. West Ashley also has an independent community newspaper called West Of, which publishes news pertaining to the area on a weekly basis.
West Ashley is not a self-governed city or town. The majority of the West Ashley area is located within the city limits of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
with a few remaining pockets in unincorporated Charleston County that are served by the Saint Andrews Public Service District who provides municipal services for those outside the city limits.
West Ashley neighborhoods
- Air Harbor
- Albemarle Point
- Ardmore
- Asheford Place
- Ashland Plantation
- Ashley Forest
- Ashley Hall Manor
- Ashley Hall Plantation
- Ashley Harbor
- Ashley Towne Landing
- Ashleyville
- Avondale
- Battery Haig
- Byrnes Downs
- Canterbury Woods
- Capri Isle
- Carolina Bay
- Carolina Terrace
- Charlestowne Estates
- Church Creek
- Citadel Woods
- Croghan Landing
- Dogwood
- Drayton on the Ashley
- East Oak Forest
- Edgewater Park
- Forest Lakes
- Geddes Hall
- Governor's Point
- Grand Oaks Plantation
- Harrison Acres
- Heathwood
- Hickory Farms
- Hickory Hill
- Hunt Club
- Huntington Woods
- Hutton Place
- Indigo Point
- Isle De Nemours
- Lenevar
- MacLaura Hall
- Marsh Cove
- Maryville
- McLaura Bluff
- Melrose
- Memminger Hall
- Middleborough Estates
- Moreland
- Northbridge Terrace
- Old Towne Acres
- Orange Grove Estates
- Orange Grove Shores
- Orleans Woods
- Parkshore
- Parkshore 3
- Parkwood Estates
- Pierpont
- Pinecrest Gardens
- Pinepoint
- Ponderosa
- Providence Commons
- Rice Hollow
- Rotherwood Estates
- Saint Andrews
- Sandhurst
- Savannah (The)
- Schieveling Plantation
- Shadowmoss Plantation
- Sherwood Forest
- South Windermere
- Springfield
- Stone Creek
- Stono Park
- Sunday Hill
- Sylvan Shores
- The Crescent
- Village Green
- Wappoo Heights
- Wapoo Shores
- Washington Park
- Wespanee Plantation
- West Ashley Plantation
- West Oak Forest
- Westwood
- Windermere
Major Shopping Centers
- Ashley Crossing
- Ashley LandingAshley Plaza MallAshley Plaza Mall , built in 1970, was the first indoor shopping mall built in the West Ashley area of Charleston, South Carolina. The center is located at 1401 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard at the fork of Old Towne Road...
(formerly Ashley Plaza Mall) - Citadel Mall
- Crossroads Centre
- Harrell Square
- Outback Plaza (formerly Citadel Plaza)
- South Windermere Center
- St. Andrews Center
- Village Square
- West Ashley Shoppes
- Westwood Plaza (formerly Grant City West)
External Links With Photos of West Ashley
http://www.westof.net/http://www.dot.state.sc.us/community/ashley_river.shtml | Historic Ashley River Road
http://www.charlestownelanding.travel/ | Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site
http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/13794/links.html | Ashley River Road Links
http://www.draytonhall.org/ | Historic Drayton Hall
http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/ | Historic Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
http://www.ci.charleston.sc.us/home/default.aspx | The Official Website of the City of Charleston
http://lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/u?/SPA,177 | Byrnes Downs Garden Club Scrapbook