Sports Bar in Summerville, SC

Firecrackers will flash across Charleston's stunning skyline once again this year, offering yet another spectacular Fourth of July for the Lowcountry.

If you're looking for a special setting to embrace the patriotic holiday, consider watching the dazzling light shows aboard the flight desk of the USS Yorktown. This year's event will feature two separate stages with local bands, the opportunity to explore parts of the Yorktown museum and more fun family activities to honor the national holiday.

"Every adult hits that point where you think you've been to every kind of fireworks show," said Sam Elkin, Patriots Point's director of marketing and communication. "If you've seen one, you've seen them all, right? That is until they've seen this one — which is the most unique fireworks show in Charleston — with unmatched views and sightlines of multiple fireworks shows across Charleston harbor. It's truly something special."

If you're in Summerville, head to the Fireworks and Freedom Festival, where there will be glow sticks for the little ones and the shuttle buses running from behind town hall to Gahagan Park.

"It's really a great event for Summerville, as well as for those from Moncks Corner or North Charleston looking for something a little different from what they're used to," said Rigel Kocur, Summerville Parks and Recreation Department's marketing and events manager.

With so many captivating celebrations to choose from, we've got 14 hotspots for your Fourth of July festivities and fireworks.

Fireworks and Freedom Festival

What: Enjoy a curated fireworks display, tasty food trucks, inflatable obstacle courses and community fun hosted by the Summerville Parks and Recreation Department.

When: 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Where: Gahagan Park, 515 W. Boundary St., Summerville

Price: Free

Red, White and Palm

What: Get together at this pre-fireworks gathering and enjoy a live DJ, light bites, chilled cocktails and a stunning view of the fireworks over Charleston's skyline. Patriotic attire is encouraged.

When: 6-9 p.m.

Where: Little Palm, 237 Meeting St., Charleston

Price: Free

Fabulous Fourth in the Creek

What: Goose Creek hosts their annual Fourth of July celebration and fireworks show, featuring live music, tasty food vendors and plenty of family-friendly activities to explore.

When: 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Where: Goose Creek Municipal Center, 519 N. Goose Creek Blvd.

Price: Free

Fourth of July Fireworks Blast

What: Watch Charleston harbor light up with fireworks aboard the historic USS Yorktown with live music, tasty food vendors and unmatched views.

When: 7-10 p.m.

Where: USS Yorktown, Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, 40 Patriots Point, Mount Pleasant

Price: $109

What: This annual parade which will march down Dunvegan Drive, turn left on Shadowmoss Parkway and travel around Muirfield before wrapping up at the starting line. Expect patriotic floats, some vintage cars and more.

When: 10 a.m.

Where: Shadowmoss Golf & Country Club, 21 Dunvegan Drive, Charleston

Price: Free

Fourth of July Fireworks Cruise

What: Board The Carolina Girl yacht for an exclusive night on Charleston harbor to view the annual fireworks shows, featuring a live DJ, light bites, an open bar and incredible views.

When: 8-11 p.m.

Where: St. Johns Yacht Harbor, 2408 Maybank Highway, Johns Island

Price: $170

July 4th Family Picnic and Fireworks

What: Bring out your family and friends for an outdoor picnic with fun games, live music and fireworks.

When: 6-9 p.m.

Where: Bay Creek Park, 3706 Dock Site Road, Edisto Island

Price: Free

4th of July Festival

What: Break out the lawn chairs for North Charleston's annual festival featuring a stunning fireworks show after dark and live music from Motown Throwdown alongside DJ Natty Heavy and DJ D-Nyce.

When: 5-9:30 p.m.

Where: Riverfront Park, 1061 Everglades Ave., North Charleston

Price: Free

4th of July Juke Joint Jam

What: Celebrate Independence Day with some Gullah Geechee food and culture alongside some groovin' funk by DJ Kwame Sha as well as Beth Inabinett & For the Funk of It Band. All proceeds support the Penn Center's heritage program.

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Penn Center, 16 Penn Center Circle E., St. Helena Island

Price: $28

Isle of Palms Fourth of July Fireworks Show

What: Isle of Palms will host their annual fireworks show on the beach with incredible displays across the entirety of Charleston harbor.

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Front Beach, 1118 Ocean Blvd., Isle of Palms

Price: Free

Independence Day Celebration

What: Celebrate Independence Day with a fun bike parade, cookout, live music, watermelon-eating contest, breakdancing and fireworks.

When: 5-9 p.m.

Where: Night Heron Park, 1 Kiawah Island Parkway, Kiawah Island

Price: Free

Daniel Island Independence Day Celebration

What: Sign up for Daniel Island's golf cart parade, which begins at Bishop England High School and continues to Daniel Island School parking lot. A celebration will follow at Smythe Park with live DJs, dance performances, music from Wildflower Station and the East Coast Party Band.

When: 4-9 p.m. July 3

Price: Free

Sullivan's Island 4th of July Golf Cart Parade

What: Join in on the annual golf cart and bike parade, starting at the Sunrise Presbyterian Church and heading to Sullivan's Island Elementary School. Registered participants will be judged for most-festive golf cart at the finish line.

When: 8:30 a.m.

Price: Free

Sullivan's Island Independence Day Party

What: Following the annual parade, break out a lawn chair or picnic blanket and watch the fireworks fly over Sullivan's Island while listening to jams from the Shem Creek Boogie Band.

When: 6 p.m.

Where: J. Marshall Stith Park, 2058 Middle St., Sullivan's Island

Price: Free

SUMMERVILLE — Two bodies were recovered aboard a 30-foot fishing boat June 11 that went missing and sunk off the coast of Massachusetts, but it was a South Carolina resident who helped kick off the search to find them.

Sam Miller, owner of Aquatic Analytics in Summerville, was vacationing near Cape Cod two days earlier when she took a carefree walk along the beach with her dad.

“I saw something floating in the water and thought it was a game cam because of its shape and size,” she said. “I went to pick it up and realized it was actually a GPS from a boat.”

Finding it odd that such an important navigation piece would wash ashore, Miller took the instrument back to her parent’s cabin and did some sleuthing.

The Furuno-model GPS, which provides boaters a number of offshore navigational tools, had a slip of tape with an old work order on it labeled “F|V Sea Horse.”

That meant she had a starting point.

But after hours of futile searching, Miller and her dad, Tim Brown, drove back to Rock Harbor and asked one of the captains if they knew of a fishing vessel named Seahorse.

The owner — later identified by the Coast Guard as 64-year-old Shawn Arsenault — hadn’t returned, the captain told Miller, but his truck was still parked at the landing. He had gone to sea that day with his girlfriend Felicity Daley.

“We left a note under his windshield wipers," Miller said. "But as we we walked away that same guy we asked came back and said, ‘You know, I was just talking to somebody and we actually think that boat’s overdue.' "

The father-daughter pair at first simply thought the device had just fallen overboard by accident, especially since there was no other debris.

"That’s when we were like, 'Oh, holy cow. We hadn’t thought that,' " she said.

Miller exchanged numbers with the captain, who notified the Coast Guard, and agreed to hold onto the GPS.

"We were hoping he was OK, but we couldn't make all of the facts work," Miller said. "A GPS unit like that had to be plugged in to be working. If there was a shipwreck it didn’t seem like something that would fall off."

A three-day search begins

The 30-foot white hulled fishing boat took off June 8, one day prior, around 8:30 a.m. Other boaters confirmed seeing the vessel at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. dragging for quahog clams, according to a story from Cape Cod Times.

Arsenault’s brother, Paul, was contacted June 9 after the boat was unusually overdue, but thought maybe his sibling was just staying out until he met his quota, the publication further reported.

An urgent marine information broadcast was sent out to the public June 10 for help finding the Seahorse, but a major storm hindered efforts. Coast Guard pings later that night found the boat to be about eight hours from where it took off, with harbormaster Nate Sears noting it was off from Arsenault's typical path.

By June 11, a multi-agency search was underway led by the Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England. Come the afternoon, a recreational fisherman found the Seahorse after its net snagged on the submerged vessel.

The Seahorse was on the sea bottom in 25 feet of water on a shoal within Cape Cod Bay, a Coast Guard news release said.

Arsenault and Daley were both found dead inside the boat, according to multiple reports.

The story has gained national attention, with People magazine and United Kingdom-based Daily Mail covering the tragedy.

Miller has since been in touch with Arsenault's daughter after connecting on Facebook through a Coast Guard post.

SUMMERVILLE — Walmart is knocking on the door to Cane Bay.

The huge mega-residential development in Summerville, slated to have upwards of 10,000 single-family houses and townhomes when fully built out, could soon see a new major discount store near its entrance.

The Arkansas-based retail giant has proposed a 171,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter on 46 acres at 2000 State Road, also known as U.S. Highway 176.

The Supercenter would include a full grocery store, garden center and a drive-through pharmacy that would serve the nearly 40,000 projected Cane Bay Plantation residents at full buildout and more.

Walmart’s application with the S.C. Department of Environmental Services calls for construction of a median- and right-turn lane for access to the store from both Highway 176 and Fairwinds Boulevard.

According to the filing, about a quarter-acre of wetlands will be filled for the development.

“At this point, it’s still in the early stages,” said Mariel Messier, communications director for Walmart’s U.S. East region. “This location is part of Walmart’s broader initiative to build or convert more than 150 stores nationwide during the next several years, bringing new jobs and infrastructure improvements to the Summerville community.”

Until recently, the Bentonville, Ark.-based discount chain hadn't built a Supercenter from the ground up since 2021. The latest, described as the company's first "store of the future," opened northwest of Houston in Cypress, Texas, in April. More are expected to follow.

The Cane Bay store would be the fifth Walmart-owned retail outlet in Summerville and the city's third Supercenter. The other two are at 1317 N Main St. and 9880 Dorchester Road.

Walmart announced earlier this year it was planning to remodel its Neighborhood Market location at 10635 Dorchester as part of a strategy to update 33 stores across the state.

The new Supercenter would add another Walmart in Berkeley County, one of the fastest-growing areas in the state with a projected population of 372,132 by 2040.

Messier said the company factors in population growth, as well as other, metrics when scouting a new Supercenter location.

“We're always looking for opportunities of where a location will be most advantageous for our customers,” she said. “We're just excited to be able to serve more customers in Summerville and bring this location in.”

The Cane Bay Plantation master-planned development was conceived by Charleston-based Gramling Brothers Real Estate and Development. It first broke ground in 2005 on a 4,500-acre tract surrounding a lake with trail systems.

Now an expansive collection of neighborhoods, Cane Bay has undergone a population boom in the 20 years since with its own schools, library and YMCA.

Nearby, master-planned developments Nexton and Carnes Crossroads soon followed suit.

Cane Bay elementary and middle schools, which were built for 900 students each, were already over capacity by hundreds of students 10 years later. The high school now has more than 2,000 students.

The community's retail area has further grown around the rooflines with a Publix grocery store, Parker’s Kitchen gas station, restaurants like Chick-Fil-A and Smoothie King, nail salons and hair studios, banks and credit unions, and a plethora of services for residents such as a veterinarian, dentist and Roper St. Francis Physicians Network outpost.

The median sales price for homes in Cane Bay was $447,550 as of May 2025, a 2 percent increase year over year, according to Carolina One Real Estate. Homes currently listed range from $298,500 to $889,500, the firm reported.

Leasing is now open for The Charles, a luxury residential development nearing completion in downtown Charleston's Harleston Village.

Developed and managed by The Beach Co., the 15 three-story townhomes and eight flats are at Broad and Barre streets, next to The Jasper and overlooking the Ashley River.

Floorplans are a mix of two- and three-bedrooms with private street-level entrances. Rates weren't immediately available.

The development harkens to the historic aspects of the neighborhood with handcrafted wrought iron gates, brick verandas, mahogany doors and copper lanterns. Dan Doyle, president of The Beach Co., said the first residents are expected to move in "later this year.”

Tenants will have access to the deluxe amenities next door at The Jasper, including a rooftop pool, fitness areas, locker rooms with showers and saunas, private wine storage and a demonstration kitchen with catering space for private events.

One in 58 million

A New York real estate investor has purchased a 288-unit multifamily community in Summerville, for $58.5 million, or $203,125 on a per-key basis.

URS Capital Partners, under the name 1005 Sonoran LLC, closed on its acquisition of The Palms At Edgewater, on April 21, according to Dorchester County land records filed earlier this month.

The 24-acre rental complex is at 1005 Sonoran Circle, near Highway 17A and Dorchester Road. It was constructed in 2023 and includes typical apartment amenities, such as a pool, fitness center and pickleball court.

Floorplans include one- to three-bedroom units ranging from 778 to 1,200 square feet. Monthly rental rates start at $1,371.

The builder and seller was a North Carolina-based joint venture operating as SV Developers LLC.

Safety first

Berkeley County has opened its new Goose Creek Magistrate and Public Safety Substation.

The 12,102-square-foot building is at 652 Red Bank Road. It will house county magistrate services as well as outposts for emergency medical services and the sheriff's office.

The new substation also has three courtrooms, each with jury boxes. Three judges, six clerks, three constables, two bailiffs and a security officer will be assigned to the site.

To mark the opening, the city unveiled an official goose statue through its Adopt-A-Goose arts program rather than cut a ribbon.

Fill 'er up

A national real estate financing firm has snapped up the final vacay in a small downtown Charleston office building.

Colliers said it rencpresented the landlord, 2783 Atlantic Owners, in leasing 2,625 square feet of space to Berkadia Commercial Mortgage at 121 Calhoun St., just east of Meeting Street.

With the transaction, the 7,450-square-foot property next to the Courtyard Charleston Historic District hotel has reached full occupancy.

New York-based Berkadia will occupy the second floor. The firm provides lending, investment and property research services.

The building's first floor is home to bridal boutique White Magnolia, while the third is occupied by content creation group Creators Corner.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - An 85-acre property dedicated to serving and supporting generations of adults with developmental disabilities will soon see a shift in its structure and resources, opening an opportunity for hundreds to lay their heads and receive care.

The Coastal Center is one of five regional support facilities offered by the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. The property, located off of Miles Jamison Road in Summerville, is home to more than 120 residents and has served others for generations.

State legislators and Lowcountry leaders made the first step in “turning the dirt” for a project on Friday to use a portion of $153.8 million in state funding to upgrade buildings and introduce new amenities.

Lisa Morelli serves as President of the Parents and Guardians Association, which includes family members who have loved ones living on the property due to a disability. Her brother is an active resident.

“As parents, guardians and siblings, we are on campus quite a bit. When you are on campus and you see things like the plumbing needs updating, or a roof needs to be updated, you immediately understand the livability for our siblings and loved ones needs to be improved,” Morelli said.

The groundbreaking comes one year after the center pushed at the state capital for help with “long-awaited” construction and changes to the facility, which was built in the 1960s.

Senator Sean Bennett believes the age of the building and its location led locals and statewide leaders to forget about the center’s existence, which drove it further into crisis.

“I came to visit and saw some of the conditions of some of the cottages out here, I was appalled,” Senator Sean Bennett said. “Children would have soccer games and tee ball games, and the community would participate in this place. It’s been kind of, almost, shut off.”

The multi-million-dollar renovations will include at least 17 buildings on the campus. This includes improvements to HVAC, fire safety, electrical systems, communications, new equipment and technology.

Any money not used out of the jar will go to improving conditions at the four other regional facilities in the state.

Facility Administrator John Dooney said he joined the team as a retired Navy veteran, insistent on fulfilling a purpose of caring for others.

“We’re it. The residents who live here, we take care of them. That’s a part of it, health and safety and improving their quality of life,” Dooney said.

Dooney expects the renovations to expand resident capacity by 20% and to provide room for job opportunities. The center employs roughly 300 full-time staff members and an undisclosed number of volunteers.

The group emphasized how the facility is more than simply caring for the people inside.

“This is their home. This is not an outpatient facility, this is not a hospital. The folks that live here are a part of the community. They have challenges, they have special needs, but they are still a part of the community,” Bennett said.

“Their survival is by our hands. They cannot care for themselves, they cannot feed themselves, they cannot cool themselves. My sister is 81 years old and her survival rate is by the help given by our hands,” Annette Green said.

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