Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2019

68 www.MPMcalendar.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature T he Roaring ‘20s. The phrase suggests flappers, frolic and frivolity. But, the prosperity that much of the country experienced was not replicated here. Most local residents struggled in a stagnant economy. Droves of men left to find work in cities up North. Tourism became the hope for economic growth. In 1923, Charleston’s Mayor Thomas Stoney dubbed Charleston “America’s Most Historic City” and promised that tourism would be a top priority. The News and Courier printed a highway map from the Northeast to Charleston and distributed it nationwide. Historical markers were placed along the route. Paved roads and electric street lighting enlivened the old city’s worn and dusty appearance. By the end of the decade, tourism had become the area’s largest industry, yielding $4 million in 1929. Many wealthy Northerners purchased Lowcountry plantations as winter retreats. Notables such as John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Solomon Guggenheim, Henry Luce and A. Felix Dupont became known as “the Wall Street Planters.” In 1928, the Osgood family moved from Massachusetts and bought a home near Alhambra Hall. BY MARY COY The Roaring ‘20s Life in the Lowcountry 100Years Ago Photo courtesy of Charleston County Public Library. To herald the grand opening of the Cooper River Bridge in 1929, a parade was held along a 100-mile route from Charleston to Conway.