Book ID: CBB376520456

Lowcountry at High Tide: A History of Flooding, Drainage, and Reclamation in Charleston, South Carolina (2020)

unapi

Butler, Christina Rae (Author)


University of South Carolina Press


Publication Date: 2020
Physical Details: 288
Language: English

The signs are there: our coastal cities are increasingly susceptible to flooding as the climate changes. Charleston, South Carolina, is no exception, and is one of the American cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels. Lowcountry at High Tide is the first book to deal with the topographic evolution of Charleston, its history of flooding from the seventeenth century to the present, and the efforts made to keep its populace high and dry, as well as safe and healthy. For centuries residents have made many attempts, both public and private, to manipulate the landscape of the low-lying peninsula on which Charleston sits, surrounded by wetlands, to maximize drainage, and thus buildable land and to facilitate sanitation. Christina Butler uses three hundred years of archival records to show not only the alterations to the landscape past and present, but also the impact those efforts have had on the residents at various socio-economic levels throughout its history. Wide-ranging and thorough, Lowcountry at High Tide goes beyond the documentation of reclamation and filling and offers a look into the life and the history of Charleston and how its people have been affected by its unique environment, as well as examining the responses of the city over time to the needs of the populace. Butler considers interdisciplinary topics from engineering to public health, infrastructure to class struggle, and urban planning to civic responsibility in a study that is not only invaluable to the people of Charleston, but for any coastal city grappling with environmental change. Illustrated with historical maps, plats, and photographs and organized chronologically and thematically within chapters, Lowcountry at High Tide offers a unique look at how Charleston has kept―and may continue to keep―the ocean at bay.

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Reviewed By

Review Drew Swanson (2021) Review of "Lowcountry at High Tide: A History of Flooding, Drainage, and Reclamation in Charleston, South Carolina". Journal of Interdisciplinary History (pp. 645-647). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB376520456/

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Authors & Contributors
Sweeney, Kevin Z.
Skelton, Leona J.
Shih, Ashanti
Lai, Franco
Vaughan, Laura
Arthur Firstenberg
Concepts
Science and society
Environmental history
Nature and its relationship to culture; human-nature relationships
Science and culture
Urban planning
Science and politics
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
18th century
17th century
16th century
Places
United States
Italy
Danube river
South Carolina (U.S.)
Southern states (U.S.)
England
Institutions
School of Milan
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