In 1975, the year this magazine was founded, Charleston was a much different place. The trappings of historical wealth were still apparent in the antebellum mansions south of Broad, but the facade was thin. Downtown had fallen into disrepair, and the majority of the economy was driven by the huge Navy base and shipyard in North Charleston. Tourism was only a regional draw, drive-ins mostly, from North Carolina and Georgia. What industry that existed was mostly dirty. Terminals and shipyards blocked public access to the waterfront.
Back then, Charleston had a population of only 67,000 people; the newly incorporated City of North Charleston just over 21,000. The City of Charleston covered a mere 38 square miles, less than a quarter of what it is today. A lot on Isle of Palms could be had for less than $10,000. Life was slow, and people liked it that way. “It was a pretty sleepy town back then,” says College of Charleston economist Frank Hefner. “But South Carolina was pretty sleepy.”
As Bennett was renovating his first house, another Irish Charlestonian, Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., was settling into City Hall. After spending six years in the South Carolina House of Representatives fighting for reform, Riley had set his sights on a more localized vision—revitalizing Charleston’s downtown. He reached out to Black residents, empowering in-town neighborhoods. He coaxed the Spoleto Festival into existence, building on the city’s cultural heritage. He orchestrated the development of Charleston Place, adding luxury accommodations and shopping to struggling King Street. And he cultivated the new eight-acre Waterfront Park along Concord Street, extending public access to the harbor beyond the Battery and welcoming visitors with a distinctive pineapple fountain. It was Riley’s determination and seemingly boundless energy that kick-started downtown Charleston’s resurgence. “The fire was lit by Joe Riley,” Bennett says.