Editing Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (section)

==History==
The site of Mount Pleasant was originally occupied by the [[Sewee]] people, an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]]-speaking tribe. The first European settlers arrived from England on July 6, 1680, under the leadership of Captain Florentia O'Sullivan. Captain O'Sullivan had been granted {{convert|2340|acre|ha}}, which included not only the [[Sullivan's Island, South Carolina|island later named for him]], but also the future site of Mount Pleasant. On the earliest map of the time, this area was called "North Point".<ref name="charlestonboattours-agile.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.charlestonboattours-agile.com/water-tours/mt-pleasant/|title=Mt. Pleasant|work=Charleston Private Boat Tours}}</ref>

In 1696, 51 new settlers arrived. Each family was allotted several hundred acres in the area that became known as [[Christ Church (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina)|Christ Church]] parish. In 1706, the [[Province of Carolina]] withstood several attacks by the Spanish and the French from their settlements to the south and defeated French invaders in an area known as "Abcaw."

[[File:Mt Pleasant St Andrews Episcopal 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[St. Andrew's Church (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina)|St. Andrew's Church]] was built in 1857 as a chapel of ease for Christ Church Parish and today is part of the [[Mount Pleasant Historic District (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina)|Mount Pleasant Historic District]].]]
The area of "Abcaw" was Hobcaw Plantation, located between [[Shem Creek]] and the [[Wando River]]. Later, it was also known as Shipyard Plantation. Its access to deep water and abundant good timber made it ideal for developing a prosperous shipbuilding enterprise. Lands adjacent to Hobcaw Point were owned at different times by several English families, many of which maintained ferries that served Mount Pleasant. By 1721, 107 families were living in Christ Church parish, including 400 whites and 637 enslaved Africans or African Americans. As the area was developed for large plantations, enslaved Africans and African Americans made up the chief labor force of the slave society. Based on this history, the majority of the population in the town was African American through the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1754, [[Colonel Charles Pinckney|Charles Pinckney]] acquired a 715-acre plantation, cultivating the commodity crops of rice and indigo. It became known as [[Snee Farm]] near here. His son Charles retained the plantation until 1817. It was operated as a plantation through the 19th century.

On September 24, 1860, a public meeting was held in Mount Pleasant; it resulted in the first [[secession]] resolution passed in the state. The secession convention met in Charleston on December 20, 1860. With the advent of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Battery Guerry and an adjacent floating battery between Mount Pleasant and Sullivan's Island were instrumental in defense of the city. They were also bases for attacks on [[Fort Sumter]]. The city was defended by a line of fortifications from Elliot's Creek at [[Boone Hall]] to Copahee Sound. Mount Pleasant was the secret training ground for the nine-man crew of the Confederate submarine {{ship||H. L. Hunley|submarine|2}}. This small vessel was launched from Breach Inlet in 1864 to attack and sink the {{USS|Housatonic|1861|6}}.
[[File:Pitt street bridge in old village.jpg|thumb|200px|View from the old Pitt Street Bridge in Old Village]]

The original plank-and-barrel footbridge, later known as the Pitt Street Bridge at the foot of the Old Village area in Mount Pleasant, was used by the crew of the "H.L. Hunley" to cross Breach Inlet to test the submarine. In 1899, the original wooden plank bridge was replaced by a trolley bridge.

A generation later, in 1929, a steel [[drawbridge]] was built for vehicle access between [[Sullivan's Island]] and Mount Pleasant. The Pitt Street bridge was dismantled in 1945, but the remains are visible in the [[Intracoastal Waterway]]. The area has been maintained since then as the Pickett Bridge Recreation Area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crisp, Adam. ''Otis Picket Bridge Recreation Area (Pitt Street Bridge)|url=http://mountpleasant-sc.patch.com/listings/otis-picket-bridge-recreation-area-pitt-street-bridge|publisher=mountpleasant-sc.patch.com|access-date=February 8, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213222604/http://mountpleasant-sc.patch.com/listings/otis-picket-bridge-recreation-area-pitt-street-bridge|archive-date=February 13, 2013}}</ref> It was named for Charleston doctor Otis Pickett.

The "Old Village" is Mount Pleasant's oldest neighborhood; the oldest home, 111 Hibben Street (the Hibben House) was constructed in 1755 by Jacob Motte, a descendant of French [[Huguenot]]s who had immigrated to South Carolina to escape religious persecution.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eddleman, Joe. ''A Survey of Historic Homes & Building in the Old Village of Mt. Pleasant, SC''|url=http://www.mountpleasantrecreation.com/old-village-of-mount-pleasant-historical-survey|publisher=mountpleasant-sc.patch.com|access-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref>

In the early 21st century, the Old Village is centered on the Pitt Street Shops at the northwestern end of the street. Among them is the Pitt Street Pharmacy, which was featured on the [[Food Network]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Brown, Alton. ''The South Shall Fry Again'', Episode AB0101 |url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/local/sc-mt-pleasant/pitt-street-pharmacy-restaurant/index.html#/38.736171/-97.222306/4/|publisher=foodnetwork.com|access-date=July 29, 2006}}</ref> It has operated at this location for more than 60 years.

The numerous slaves were freed during and after the Civil War. In 1875 African Americans made up 73% of the population in Charleston County.<ref name="meeks">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/27567894 Melinda Meeks Hennessy, "Racial Violence During Reconstruction: The 1876 Riots in Charleston and Cainhoy"], ''South Carolina Historical Magazine,'' Vol. 86, No. 2, (April 1985), 104-106 {{subscription required|via JSTOR}}</ref>

===Scanlonville===
Some freedmen developed Scanlonville, one of the first African-American communities to be formed after the Civil War in the Charleston area. Today, it is a neighborhood within Mount Pleasant that has been annexed by the city. Robert Scanlon, a freedman carpenter, purchased the {{convert|614|acre|ha|adj=on}} property known as Remley's Plantation, bordering Charleston harbor along the [[Wando River]] in Mount Pleasant. Scanlon was the president and founder of the Charleston Land Company, formed by 100 local freedmen who pooled their limited resources and paid $10 per share, to purchase large tracts of land in the area. The Charleston Land Company divided this tract into smaller lots so freedmen could have their land. Remley's Plantation was divided into farm lots and city lots (which were smaller) to form the community of Scanlonville. The Charleston Land Company and Scanlonville are one of four known cooperative real estate development ventures among African-American freedmen after the Civil War. [[Remley Point Cemetery]] is in Scanlonville.
[[File:Shem Creek Boats.JPG|thumb|Fishing boats on Shem Creek]]

===Riverside===
West of Scanlonville is Riverside. During the [[Jim Crow]] years of much of the 20th century, this was known as the largest and oldest of five "black beaches" in Charleston County. It was established when public facilities were [[racial segregation|segregated]] under state law. Riverside officially opened in 1930 and featured a dance pavilion, athletics field, bathhouse, playground, and a boardwalk along the Wando River. Riverside Pavilion was the only venue where black city residents could see African-American musical legends such as [[Duke Ellington]], [[Count Basie]], [[Louis Armstrong]], [[B.B. King]], and [[Ivory Joe Hunter]], who also performed in whites-only venues. Music performances at the Pavilion spawned [[juke joint]]s, or night clubs, in Scanlonville and eventually a hotel called White's Paradise. [[James Brown]] was known to have frequented this hotel.

[[File:Mount Pleasant - South Carolina.jpg|thumb|right|Exploring the marshes]]
After the original park owner died in 1975, operations of the Riverside property were taken over by Charleston County. It eventually sold the property to a real estate company, which developed this area as a private gated community. Public access to the waterfront ended.<ref name="scanlonville">{{cite web|url=https://www.tompsc.com/index.aspx?NID=295|title=Scanlonville|work=Mount Pleasant, SC }}</ref>

===Hurricane Hugo and growth that followed===
On September 21, 1989, Mount Pleasant was hit by [[Hurricane Hugo]], a Category Four hurricane. While the town was spared from the worst of the storm (Category 4 conditions were suffered by areas further north of the city), the town and its neighboring [[barrier island]]s still had severe damage. Children who lived through the storm were featured in an early episode of [[Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[Nick News]]'', along with children who lived through [[Hurricane Andrew]].

Development continued. A year after the storm, more people moved to the area, and the town had its most significant growth spurt. It increased from a population of roughly 23,000 in 1990 to one of roughly 47,000 in 2000.

===County seat===
The county seat for [[Berkeley County, South Carolina|Berkeley County]] was located in Mount Pleasant from 1882 until 1895, when it was moved to [[Moncks Corner, South Carolina|Moncks Corner]].

===Bridges===
[[File:Shem Creek.png|thumb|left|Shem Creek]]
In 1928, a bridge from the Charleston Peninsula to Mount Pleasant was built. Spanning Town Creek and the Cooper River, and crossing the uninhabited Drum Island, the two-lane [[John P. Grace Memorial Bridge|Grace Memorial Bridge]] was opened as a toll bridge. A second and larger bridge, the [[Silas N. Pearman Bridge]], opened in 1966.

On July 16, 2005, the eight-lane Arthur Ravenel Bridge opened for automotive traffic, replacing the two aging bridges. It is one of the longest [[cable-stayed bridge]]s in the Western Hemisphere. A week before the new bridge officially opened, pedestrians were allowed to cross the bridge, and commemorative coins were distributed. Also, a fireworks display was part of the ceremonies before the official opening. Several cars from the same time as the Grace Memorial Bridge, including several restored [[Ford Model A (1927–31)|Model A Ford]]s, made a final crossing of the old bridges.<ref name="charlestonboattours-agile.com"/> The remaining portions of the old bridges were demolished. Residents watched as the bridges were demolished by explosives over several weeks, through the summer of 2006.

In 2004, Mount Pleasant became one of the first municipalities in the United States to pass a "pay-before-you-pump" gas ordinance. It was intended to reduce stealing of gas that had accompanied rising prices.<ref>{{Cite news| url= http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS/506050315/1011 | title= Rising gas prices mean more thievery at pumps | date= June 5, 2005 | work= Rutland Herald | access-date= January 17, 2008}}</ref>