Under the map of Charleston can be found this text, some of which is not legible due to damage:
Charleston has played a rich and varied role in America's history, as a defender of America's birth, home to founding fathers, trade center, ignitor of civil strife, and coastal defense link.
Three sites that display key elements of Charleston's storied past are preserved by the National Park Service and can be visited.
Fort Sumter, famous for the Civil War's opening battle, guards the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Reached only by boat, it was the focus of explosive conflict from 1861-65. Reduced to ruin by war's end, Fort Sumter was partially rebuilt and modernized, continuing as a military site until the end of World War II.
Fort Moultrie, on Sullivans Island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, was the site of a Revolutionary War battle in which patriot b____ repulsed the invading British Navy. Guarding Charleston for nearly 200 years, Fort Moultrie traces American coastal defenses from the nation's birth through World War II.
Charles Pinckney — patriot, statesman, and a framer of the Constitution — helped mold America. In nearby Mt. Pleasant, part of Pinckney's coastal plantation, called Snee Farm, is preserved as Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. Features there provide a glimpse of America's early years.