Historic Towns of the Southern States

This richly illustrated patriotic survey opens a window onto the historic towns of the American South, where colonial settlement, revolution, commerce, and war left enduring marks on architecture and memory. Framed as both educational and conciliatory, it honors the editor's father while inviting readers to reconsider the South not as a land of plantations alone, but as a region of vital cities and cultural force. From Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick Town, and Washington to Richmond, Williamsburg, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, Montgomery, New Orleans, Vicksburg, Knoxville, Nashville, Louisville, Little Rock, and St. Augustine, the book traces a sweeping historical panorama. At its heart is Charleston, portrayed as a city of commercial ingenuity, military endurance, and postwar resilience. Its story moves through indigo, rice, cotton, railroads, and phosphate, while also recalling bombardment, blockade-running, imprisonment, and celebrated civic landmarks such as the Colonial Exchange and St. Philip's Church. Alongside portraits of figures like Francis Scott Key, Henry Clay, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis, the book reveals a South shaped by ambition, conflict, recovery, and lasting urban pride. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.