The stately Edmonston-Alston House was built in 1825 and is a witness to many dramatic events in Charleston's history. You can stand on the 2nd floor piazza in the same spot where General Beauregard watched the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
As the city outgrew its original limits in 1820, the waterfront street beyond the city walls was reinforced by a permanent seawall. The wetlands behind it to the west were filled in and divided into lots. Houses were built along the dusty road running beside the embankment, known as High Battery. The Edmonston-Alston House was one of the first dwellings built in the new neighborhood and by 1850 houses occupied all the lots.
Charles Edmonston was a successful Charleston merchant who lost most of his money in a series of financial depressions in the 1830's and 1830's, the most sever being the Panic of 1837, which forced the sale of his Battery home. The buyer was Charles Alston, a member of one of the wealthiest rice-planting dynasties of South Carolina. He made several changes to the exterior to conform to the popular Greek Revival style of the period and added a 3rd floor piazza. Mr. Alston's daughter, Susan, lived in the house until her death in 1921. The home is now administered by the Middleton Place Foundation, a not-for-profit public trust whose goal is to preserve historic properties.
