08/23/2024
I always love to surprise guests of Sites and Insights Tours, Inc. with my rendition of “Summertime” when we stop at this location on my Gullah Geechee, Porgy and Bess Tour. The music to the song was composed by George Gershwin with a little help from his brother Ira in 1934 for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy which the opera was based.
This stop on my tour was once home to former slaves. During that time it was called Cabbage Row. The name was fittiing since its residents would sell cabbage and other produce directly from the windowsills. Just down the street lived author Edwin DuBose Heyward, a struggling artist working on his first (and most successful) novel, “Porgy.” Located at 76 Church St., Heyward was able to poke his head through his front door and witness the daily goings-on of his busy neighbors on Cabbage Row. Thus sparked the inspiration for his book.
While writing “Porgy,” Heyward drew from many real-life places + events, though he changed a few key details. For example, the titular character Porgy was based off of an actual man named Sammy Smalls, infamously known around Charleston for his many run-ins with the law and most notably, riding through town in a goat cart. Heyward also took artistic liberties with Cabbage Row, changing its name to Catfish Row and moving it to a waterfront location rather than its landlocked one on Church St.
After Heyward’s novel gained popularity – and later became both a successful (and for some, controversial) play and opera, many Charlestonians began using the terms Cabbage Row and Catfish Row interchangeably. Either way, it’s important to recognize its role in Charleston history.
Make sure you book a tour with with Sites and Insights Tours during your next visit to Charleston, SC. We are Charleston’s trusted tour for Charleston Gullah Geechee, Black History.
