Just a few miles up the coast from Beaufort, SC , is the historic city of Charleston. My wife and I have visited the area a number of times. It and St. Augustine, FL, just south of Jacksonville, are our two favorite places to visit nearby; they make for nice weekend trips.

Charleston was founded in 1670 by the British, 63 years before General Oglethorpe came to Savannah and founded the city that once served, briefly, as the capital of the state of Georgia.

The two cities are often thought of as “sister cities,” as they share many similarities, and have long had a friendly rivalry.

Charleston is known for its history and its architecture, its food and its culture. Its famed Dock Street Theatre hosts events from the world-renowned Spoleto Festival. Fort Sumter, in the Charleston Bay, is where the American Civil War started. Patriots Point, on its north side, is home to naval war vessels that people can tour to see what “service afloat” would have looked like during the time they were in service.

And of course “The Battery,” on the southern end of the Charleston peninsula, is home to a collection of grand old houses, with museums, cafes and art galleries all in walking distance nearby.

Unlike the city of Savannah, which is situated some 17 miles or so inland from the Atlantic Ocean, and thus somewhat protected from ocean-borne storms, Charleston sits right on the Atlantic. This proximity makes it ideal for ocean-going shipping; the Charleston port has long been a leader on the East Coast.

But it also makes it more vulnerable to storms sweeping in from the Atlantic; and suffered enormously when Hurricane Hugo swept onshore in September of 1989. Many homes on the peninsula suffered severe flooding, up to the second stories even; and boats and cars alike were carried several blocks inland on the storm surge.

That storm was originally projected to hit Savannah; but swerved slightly at the last minute, and traveled up the coast instead.

Savannah’s gain was Charleston’s loss.

One unique feature of Charleston’s architecture is its design of homes to be narrow across the front, and long across the side. “Charleston porches” are famous for facing their side yards, instead of the street. The reason for that goes back to the system of property taxes, carried over from England, which assessed valuations based on the number of feet that fronted the street, that were considered more valuable.

So, folks built homes that were narrow in front, and long on the side, to lower their property tax bills! Savannah later followed suit, in its original downtown area. Houses with “Charleston porches” also usually had them built on the eastern side of the house, to avoid the heat of the late afternoon sun. And were built with high ceilings and tall windows, to allow summer heat to rise to the top of the room and escape out the floor-to-ceiling windows; air-conditioning not yet having been invented.

As is inevitable, I suppose, every attempt to tax the citizens of any community will eventually produce a push-back, sometimes in surprising ways.

Some years ago, on a weekend trip to the Atlanta area, my wife and I paid a visit to “The Wren’s Nest,” the one-time home of Atlanta Journal-Constitution Associate Editor Joel Chandler Harris. He was originally from Eatonton, outside of Milledgeville, and is perhaps best known as the author of the “Uncle Remus Tales” stories. He lived in Savannah for a time in the late 1800’s, leaving for Atlanta in 1876 to escape a yellow fever epidemic, and bought that house in 1883, expanding it several times into the shape it has today.

It is now a “house museum,” with original furnishings belonging to the Harrises. When we took the guided tour, the tour guide asked at one point if we noted anything unusual about the house? We thought a minute, and, puzzled, collectively shook our heads.

“There are no closets!” she exclaimed. “The taxation system in effect at the time based property taxes on the number of rooms in a house – including closets! So folks quit building houses with closets, and instead used free-standing ‘wardrobes,’ a closet on a base, instead.”

I had never heard that before. We learn something new every day!

Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of (“the original”) Savannah High School and the University of Georgia. He and his wife, both long-time Rotarians, live in eastern Liberty County with their passel of rescue cats. He writes on a variety of topics, and may be reached at rafe_semmes@yahoo.com.