Colonial Dorchester

A colonial town abandoned after the Revolution

A colonial town on the Ashley River that ran down after the Revolution: loss of people, an unhealthy site and wartime destruction emptied it, and Summerville took its institutions and even carted off its bricks. The brick bell tower of St. George’s Anglican Church still stands, from 1751, split almost in two by the 1886 earthquake and held together with steel ties for half a century. Beside it is Fort Dorchester, a tabby fort of lime and oyster shell built in the French and Indian War and held in turn by the British and the Patriots. At low tide the remains of the old shipping wharves show in the river, and archaeologists are still mapping the streets under the grass. PUBLIC state historic site, Summerville.