Located on a marshy peninsula formed by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers just a few feet above mean sea level, Charleston, South Carolina, has faced challenges posed by water since its founding. Removing excess water, transforming swampy land into dry ground, and filling to raise the surface has characterized the city’s built environment. Butler traces the history of these activities in Lowcountry at High Tide. She states her mission clearly at the outset—to provide “a thorough history of fill and reclamation” in Charleston, “a city in which flooding has been a continuous hindrance to human habitation since European settlers first recorded the phenomenon in the late seventeenth century” (1).
Lowcountry at High Tide follows the city’s hydrological works from its founding in the late seventeenth century to the present day. Butler shows how drainage and fill efforts marked Charleston even in its initial years, although these colonial efforts were...