North Charleston South Carolina celebrates its 35th birthday on the Fourth of July
Thirty-five years ago, North Charleston was born around Park Circle and annexed the Charleston Naval Base a few months later. North Charleston instantly became the third-largest city in the State of South Carolina, with a population larger than the City of Charleston founded over 300 years earlier.
Oops, while I was with my wife at the eye doctor, it seems that the front page of the newspaper was mentioning the fastest growing cities in the State of South Carolina and to my surprise, Charleston is actually larger than North Charleston in population.
While we're on the subject of population, Charleston is growing faster than the largest population city in the state which is Columbia, the state capital. Mount Pleasant wasn't mentioned but the growth in the Mount Pleasant area likely makes it one of the largest cities in the state and while the Town of Summerville records a population in the low 30,000's, if all the people who received mail addressed to Summerville were counted as living in Summerville, the population would likely be over 100,000. Dorchester County, which includes Summerville is the fastest growing county in the State of South Carolina.
Now, back to the original post.
The booming bedroom community now stretches for miles up Dorchester Road, Ladson Road and Rivers Avenue from the Neck area just north of Wagener Terrace. The city will celebrate 35 years in a new $7 million park on July Fourth on land which was previously one of the largest military installations in the state and redeveloped as part of the Noisette Project.
Riverfront Park, overlooking the Cooper River and complete with improvements that include a winding river walk will be the site of the birthday party beginning at 3PM Wednesday. Concerts and other events will go on during the day including the featured performance by country music legend, Lee Greenwood. The event culminates in a fireworks display over the river at dark. Admission and parking are free.
"This will give us a chance to show what we have become in 35 years," Keith Summey, the recently reelected Mayor of North Charleston, said. "It's a great opportunity to get people together and let them enjoy one another on the waterfront."