Mount Pleasant Historic District

District Recognition

The Mount Pleasant Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. This historic area is 30 blocks bounded by the Charleston Harbor (west), Shem Creek (north), Royal Avenue (east), and McCants Drive (south). The district is recognized for its important architectural styles and historic functions including domestic, religious, military, transportation, and commercial purposes.

National Register Nomination-Documentation Clarification

The Mount Pleasant Historic District was listed on March 30, 1973, which was relatively early in South Carolina’s National Register program. At this time, very little documentation was required during the nomination and approval process for historic districts. Therefore, the paperwork for Mount Pleasant’s nomination is minimal and only enumerates 10 properties (nine buildings and one cemetery) as selected architectural examples. However, there are many other contributing properties within the district's boundaries. Moreover, there are also a number of noncontributing properties that are not specified in this documentation.

Local Historic Overlay District

Old Village Historic District

In 1979, Mount Pleasant created a local historic district administered by the Old Village Historic District Commission. This conservation historic district is a 37 block area that incorporates the smaller district on the National Register. The local district is bounded by Shem Creek (north, excluding the boatyard), Whilden Street (east), the old bridge and marshland (south), and the Charleston Harbor (west). The purpose of this district is to protect, preserve, and enhance the architecture of the Old Village and to encourage harmonious growth and development. Other goals include promoting the use and preservation of the historic district for the education and welfare of town residents while also encouraging civic pride.

Architectural Character

Social History

The special character of Mount Pleasant’s Old Village Historic District results from the particular social history of the area, especially since 1759, when the oldest surviving house was built. In the historic district varied examples of historic architecture still stand along the community’s oldest streets thanks to the residents and property owners who have preserved it. As the streetscapes illustrate, Mount Pleasant history continues. Its buildings document the growth more vividly than any records or writings can. It attests to the area’s origins as an early land grant up through the modern era, but without the urban sprawl that has infected many of the state’s coastal towns and cities.

Quiet Residential Area

While the rest of the town has experienced tremendous development during the past 30 years, the Old Village Historic District has remained a quiet residential area of small and large houses. The land encompassed by the district’s boundaries typifies South Carolina’s inland coastal settlements. Shade trees line the sides of the streets and wood poles carry electrical and cable wires throughout the district. Front yards are typically lawns that extend from the sidewalk or street to the house. Setback varies with some dwellings having small front yards and others having large expanses of lawn. Along the harbor, houses sit atop bluffs with views of the water and nearby landmasses including the peninsula of Charleston.

Bibliographic Summary: U.S. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places; Town of Mount Pleasant Old Village Historic District Design Guidelines Handbook (Mount Pleasant: Town of Mount Pleasant, 2001), 2-3; Mary-Julia C. Royall, Images of America: Mount Pleasant: The Victorian Village (Mount Pleasant: Arcadia Publishing, 1997), Introduction, Ch 1; South Carolina Department of Archives.