The Charleston Connection

Carving out spheres of influence for the crown, British ships sailed the world looking to expand their enterprise globally. When the marauders and explorers came across the crystal waters and islands of the Caribbean, they decided to stay for a while–so long that some nations just shed their British imperial influences in the last year. The Brits that landed in Barbados at the time began developing massively profitable sugarcane plantations. In addition to the impoverished indentured servants who came with the imperialists seeking a new life, slaves were stolen from their homes to serve as the labor force on sugar cane and cotton plantations. The British imperialists began carving out their new economies from the ones that previously existed prior to 1627.

Just under forty years later, land in the Caribbean became scarce. White landowners were compelled to take as much as they could as quickly as they could. As a result, plantations and castles and estates labelled with white men’s names had entirely taken hold of the island. Native Bajans headed off the island looking for new places to make spaces for themselves.

In 1670, Charles Towne Landing on the coast of modern-day South Carolina, was founded by three ships of Bajans who sailed up the Ashley River, settling on Goose Creek. The people who settled there became known as the “Goose Creek Men”. Ironically, Charlestown became a landing point and nearly a colony for Barbados due to the high concentrations of ethnically Bajan people who settled there. In the next twenty years, until 1690, the free and enslaved people came to Charleston, S.C. from Barbados.

As seen with many people reminiscent of home, the people coming from Barbados began replicating some of the same aesthetics of their homes in the Caribbean in their new ones in Charleston. From the paint to the cobblestones to the houses, Charleston became a mini impression of the Caribbean island. Chattal houses stood alone, because the distance lessened the heat. Long houses with wrap-around porches were airy and bright, as seen in on the beaches of the Caribbean. From colors to trees surrounding them, Charleston looked like a duplicate Barbados. Unfortunately, these buildings and themes became "unique" to Charleston as a large fire destroyed the ones in Barbados during the 17th century. On March 23, 1860, a New York Times article detailed the tragedy. Clearly local Bajans were hoping to preserve much of their homeland as possible in their new home.

Source: New York Times Archives, March 23, 1860

Colors in Charleston play a large role in maintaining the cultures of the people who live there. The Gullah Geechee group painted their houses bright blue-green, believing that these colors would keep the bad spirits away from them. These colors, reminiscent of home, were strong representations of some of the beliefs of the Bajans at the time.

Jumping forward several years, in 1931, “Rainbow Row” was a name coined for the properties belonging to a judge and his wife: Judge Lionel Legge and Dorothy Porcher Legge. This couple purchased a series of homes which they painted pastel pink in homage to their Caribbean roots. They began and perpetuated somewhat of a trend in Charleston, as many people followed suit during the 1930s and 40s, painting their houses in the Caribbean colors. As told to NPR, a Barbadian man visiting Charleston said, “I feel like I’m back home in Bridgetown… The only difference is people are driving on the right side of the road instead of the left.”

Source: Robert and Rhonda Green, photo by Kenya Downs for NPR

More than just colorfully, the architectural layout of the houses and the central planning of the city were both based upon the layout of Bridgetown, Barbados. Robert and Rhonda Green, founders of the Barbados and the Carolinas Legacy Foundation, describe the architectural layout as creating “big Barbados” and “small Barbados”--being Charleston and the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown. In addition to the layout, the crape myrtle trees and cobblestones give the town a colonial feel similar to the one in the Caribbean. Even the names on the map are reminiscent of the islands. Bajans had discovered and named the homes and halls in the low country from Brewton, Bull, Colleton, from Elliot to Fenwick and Gibbes, to Harleston, to Jenkins, and Middleton.

The architectural plans also had mixed heritages. Carolina plantation entrances mirrored those of the plantations in Barbados, which had influences from British colonialism. Trees lined dirt paths that drove into the massive plantation houses and central hearts. The previously enslaved populations replicated what they were familiar with. Seemingly there was some recapture of this layout as the Bajans, both free and enslaved, recreated what they knew. The saturation of the Europeans in their world in Barbados had to have been significant enough that it was adapted into their culture up North.

Other cultural symbols from Barbados made it to Charleston, namely in the shape of a pineapple. These tropical fruits rarely made it to the mainland. They did not grow in the American climate, and were a luxury as they were costly to import. Nevertheless, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality and comfort among the people of Bajan descent. They populated their homes with them. On display, a pineapple made guests feel welcome. To this day, pineapples remain large elements of culture and welcome among the residents of Charleston.

Within each of these conjoined histories, it becomes important to celebrate the positive elements that emerged regarding culture, and new origins, while remembering that the only reason that many of the Bajans were forced to move was white imperialism. If their land had not been overtaken by the British colonizers, we may have never seen a new culture and Bajan settlement in Charleston, and perhaps that would have been okay. Barbados represents a silent history that has yet to be brought out into the open. Bringing it to the forefront of conversations is important to understanding a large group of people who call both Charleston and Barbados their homelands.