Charleston's buildings and waterfront setting create a deep sense of place. Their beauty and scale inspire and connect us to our past while helping shape our future. We believe preservation ensures that Charleston maintains a balance between its role as one of America's most important architectural resources – and as a real, vibrant city with a great quality of life for its residents.

Charleston’s economic success depends upon the stewardship of both its historic downtown and rural landscapes. In fact, we believe that as a city and a culture, our region has thrived because of our collective care for who we are and what we’re made of: an incomparable historic downtown nestled in a beautiful network of rivers, forests, beaches and farmland that’s home to communities of richly diverse, vibrant people.

As preservation evolves from its traditional role of saving historic buildings into addressing broader quality of life issues like affordable housing, mobility and transportation and tourism management, we lead the movement to embrace change. Only when we advocate for all of our neighborhoods, historic buildings, parks, gardens and the memories they’re made of and share everyone’s stories can we understand who we truly are – and make the vital decisions that move us all forward.