Charlestown

Chief town and port on the island of Nevis in St Kitts and Nevis, in the eastern Caribbean Sea; population (1997) 2,500. Founded in 1660, the town includes buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The town's commerce revolves around its ferry port (services to Basseterre), but it is mainly a market centre, dependent upon its tourist industry. The main local industry is sugar milling.

The US politician Alexander Hamilton was born here in 1757 and the ancestral estate to the southeast of the town is still known as ‘Hamiltons’.

Charlestown became the chief town on the island after Jamestown, the first settlement on Nevis, was destroyed by a tidal wave in 1680. By the late 18th century, Charlestown had become both a naval base and a fashionable health resort noted for its sulphurous hot springs. The water was recommended for the treatment of rheumatism and gout. The nearby Bath Hotel and Spring House (built 1778 and now largely ruined) is said to be one of the oldest hotels in the Caribbean.

Charlestown

Section of northern Boston, Massachusetts, USA, across the Charles River from the North End of the city. Although traditionally a working-class Irish district, the 1980s saw gentrification of parts of Charlestown closer to downtown Boston.

Charlestown was occupied a year before the city itself was founded; the settlers crossed the river to the Shawmut Peninsula and named their new settlement Boston in 1630. It was the initial seat of the government of the Massachusetts Bay Company and was also the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 when much of the town was burnt by the British. Bunker Hill Monument is part of the Boston National Historic Park. Charlestown became part of Boston in 1874. On its waterfront, the Navy Yard is a national historic site; the USS Constitution (‘Old Ironsides’, built 1797) is on display. The first dry dock (a harbour that can be drained) in the USA was built here in 1678.

Bunker Hill Community College is to the west, along Interstate 93, one of several highways that pass over or through the area. The Mystic River is to the north. Famous residents include John Harvard, founder of Harvard College, and Samuel Morse, the inventor of the Morse Code (born here in 1791).

Charlestown

Town in Washington County, southwestern Rhode Island, USA, on US Route 1 and Block Island Sound, 52 km/32 mi south-southwest of Providence; population (1990) 6,500. In addition to tourism, the economy is supported by farming.

Charlestown includes the villages of Kenyon and Quonochontaug as well as parts of Carolina and Shannock villages. An Indian burial ground and a wildlife sanctuary are located here. Charlestown Beach is a summer colony; behind it lies Ninigret Pond. The Narragansett tribe retains substantial holdings in the township.

Charlestown

City in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, USA, 6 km/4 mi southwest of Harpers Ferry; seat of Jefferson County; population (1990) 3,100. Charlestown has been a horse breeding and racing centre throughout its history. Agricultural trade and quarrying are also carried out in the area; industry is restricted to Ranson, nearby to the north.

Charlestown was founded in 1786 by George Washington's brother Charles. The trial and execution (1859) of John Brown occurred here.