GOOD NEWS: Slave Auctions marker unveiled in Charleston

Photo by: Marshall Willis

“Slave Auctions” is a new historic marker unveiled March 10 at the corner of Gillon and East Bay streets next to the Old Exchange Building.

The new marker acknowledges the significance of the area around the building as a destination for the domestic slave trade. The marker focuses on slave auctions that occurred just north of the Exchange while also acknowledging other areas downtown where slaves were often sold.

“Enslaved people were sold at a number of places during Charleston’s first two-hundred years,” said Edwin Breeden, director of an initiative at the Old Exchange Building to improve interpretation of slavery’s role in the site’s history. “But, in the decades leading up to the Civil War, the Exchange was probably the busiest and best known place in the city for slave auctions. It is time that we acknowledge the importance of that history through this marker.”

Breeden and Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project and interpreter at the Old Slave Mart Museum, spoke at the dedication.

“This is a major step in interpreting the whole story of Charleston, not just the portions that keep us within our comfort zones,” McGill said in a press release.

The Old Exchange Building, ca. 1771, is an historic site and museum owned by the South Carolina Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the Rebecca Motte Chapter serving as building steward. It is operated by the City of Charleston. More:

In other good news:

Are ya ready for baseball? Individual game tickets for Charleston RiverDogs’ regular season games went on sale one minute after midnight today. You can purchase print-at-home tickets online at www.riverdogs.com, 24 hours a day.

“We are excited to have our single game tickets go on sale,” said RiverDogs President and General Manager Dave Echols. “There’s just something special about Opening Day baseball and this year’s opener should be extra special as we celebrate our 20^th season at The Joe.”

The excitement at The Joe kicks off with an opening week that includes an exhibition opener against Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, April 6 at 7:05 p.m. when the RiverDogs clash with the Pelicans in the battle for coastal supremacy. Charleston opens the regular season the following night with all the pomp and circumstance featuring an exhilarating postgame fireworks show and the first of 12 Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays presented by 95SX. The game is the first of a seven game homestand (April 7-10 vs. Columbia Fireflies and April 11-13 vs. Asheville Tourists).

Chamber says economic forecast is bright. Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Chief Advancement Officer Mary Graham said the next 18 months for the tri-county area were “bright and good for business” at a conference last week. Estimated for the region: 10,000 new jobs with unemployment going down to 4.5 percent by the end of 2016.  Tourism, which has a $3.34 billion annual impact, is expected to grow 5 percent. Airport passengers, which topped 3.4 million last year, are projected to rise 6 percent. Port volume is projected to grow 3 percent, while 10 percent growth is predicted in single family unit sales in residential real estate