James D. Spirek

Maritime Heritage on Display: Underwater Examples from South Carolina

Two recently created interpretive paddling and diving trails on the Ashley and Cooper Rivers near Charleston, South Carolina, allow both the diver and non-diver access to remnants of the state’s riverine and coastal maritime heritage. Located in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, the trails meander through swamps and marshlands inhabited by an array of wildlife including ospreys, bald eagles, ducks, alligators, and fish, especially large catfish. Archaeological sites on the trails include the remains of sailing ships, steamboats, and ferry and plantation landings. These sites are situated in a culturally modified landscape altered from a prehistoric environment of hardwood swamps to one conducive to colonial rice agriculture, and to modern water-control devices including a dam. These sites range in age from the early English colonial period to the beginning of the twentieth century. The purpose of each trail is to communicate to the visitor the historical and archaeological significance of these vestiges of the state’s maritime heritage and surrounding maritime cultural landscape. In a more utilitarian sense, the trails also are intended to help stimulate historical tourism to the area.