Charleston: A Historic Walking Tour will help natives and visitors alike appreciate the history and residents of this beautiful city. With its architecture, palm trees, and cobblestone streets, Charleston is one of the South's great cultural destinations. Its ballrooms and benevolent society halls attest to grand periods of opulence and high living. The theater, libraries, museum, and college show an appreciation for culture and sophistication. But don't let the city's beauty hide its turbulent history. The horrors of bombardment and occupation by conquering armies have left their marks. The city has experienced bleak times and disasters, including fires, a devastating earthquake, and hurricanes, not to mention the challenges of Reconstruction. Yet Charleston has survived its darker days, and now may be the city's finest hour. Neighborhoods from Calhoun Street to the Battery are in better condition today than they have ever been before. This book offers three tours to explore the historic downtown: the Meeting Street loop, the Legare Street loop, and the Ansonborough tour. Enjoy the walk, and let the city tell you its story.
Mary Preston Foster was born in Columbia, SC and raised in Hampton, SC. She is known to her friends as Bitsy. She taught English and history at the Baptist High School in Charleston, SC and the American School in Manila, the Philippines. She earned a Masters in Librarianship and became an elementary school librarian. She wrote a book on teaching children library skills and one on the structure of literature in the 1980's. Always interested in SC history, she developed a curriculum for teaching SC history to the third grades during their weekly library visits. She collected and told stories of SC history and heroes to help the students understand their heritage. She became a licensed tour guide for the City of Charleston in the 1990's. She wrote the Charleston Walking Tour book that gives pertinent data on the houses and buildings passed on three separate walking tours in the downtown area. That led to the creation of the 2009 and 2010 calendars featuring photographs from that book.
She lives with her dog, Tigger, in Mt. Pleasant and continues to write.
