Many folks in the Lowcountry of South Carolina are keenly aware of the Cooper River which meets the Ashley River at the Charleston Harbor. But few of them realize the importance of the Cooper during Colonial times. It served as an essential path of transportation for both people and goods beginning in the 1600s. And in the very early 1700s what is now but a ghost town in South Carolina sprang up along its banks near what is now Moncks Corner.
It all began in 1698 when an Englishman named James Child was granted 1,200 acres of land along the river, a tract upon which he would first build a landing for boats and then start a ferry service called Strawberry Ferry.
Today, the state has stewardship over much of this original tract of land and has set up the Childsbury Towne Heritage Preserve.
But not all of the property that originally made up Childsbury Towne is included in the preserve.
An adjacent piece of property that holds the town's chapel of ease (circa 1725) was eventually swallowed up by the Strawberry Plantation and today remains on private property although it is in plain view from the site of the preserve.
Childsbury Towne would quickly grow into a bustling outlier community of Charles Towne.
As you can see from this 1707 drawing of Child's layout of Childsbury, it was well conceived and featured market squares for the residents to congregate or celebrate.
At one point, the town not only had the chapel of ease (the Strawberry Chapel), it also had a tavern, a school, a general store, a butcher, a ferry, and a shoemaker. For recreational purposes, the town included its own racetrack!
But in spite of the springboard on which the town was founded and the lightning-fast growth that followed, its livelihood didn't last long. In the end, plantations growing up all around the town are credited with its eventual demise. Its residents had all moved away by the start of the Revolutionary War.
Today, visitors to the ghost town of Childsbury Towne will find an uncanny sense of American history at the site. Few remnants remain except for Strawberry Chapel (now surrounded by metal fencing to prevent access), which can easily be viewed from the preserve. The site also contains a huge informational kiosk detailing all that is known of this Colonial ghost town.
The Childsbury Towne Hertiage Preserve is accessible by car or boat. It's open daily from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.
Did you realize the Cooper River was the site of this old ghost town in South Carolina? If you love this hidden historical gem along the river, then you should definitely read about the ruins of an old rice mill located less than a mile downstream and also on the banks of the river!
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