Charles Towne Landing in the West Ashley area of Charleston preserves the site of the first permanent English settlement in Carolina and ranks among South Carolina’s most important historic landscapes. Opened in 1970, the 664-acre park centers on archaeology, with excavations since 1967 uncovering Native American, English, and African artifacts that reveal the settlement’s layered past. Its historic core includes a reconstructed fortified area based on the original defenses against possible Spanish attack. The site also features an experimental crop garden, the replica ketch Adventure, and the Animal Forest, all helping evoke the environment, trade, and daily life tied to the beginnings of English Carolina.