Is this your favorite time of year? It has always been mine. Charleston's beauty shines even brighter as nature transforms with vibrant colors. The days become cooler, and the nights take on a spookier charm. Tradd Street, stretching from the Ashley River to the Cooper River, is particularly picturesque, bathed in soft light and long shadows. I often find myself taking long strolls with my hounds, and it stirs thoughts of those who walked these streets and alleys long before us. Have a look at just a few of those who dwelled along Tradd Street years ago.

Who Used to Live There?

38 Tradd Street is the oldest home on the block.

Built in 1718, it housed one of the most celebrated artists in America. Elizabeth O'Neill Verner was a portraitist best known for her representations of the city's flower vendors. She worked occasionally as a book illustrator, most notably for DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. Heyward, as it turned out, lived right around the corner at 76 Church Street.

Verner called her home "The Tradd Street Press" as she had her etching press installed in the back room, which also served as her studio. Known as one of the leaders of the Charleston Renaissance, her work is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and The Gibbes Museum of Art, in Charleston. Verner passed away in 1979, but her memory and artwork are forever etched in Charleston's history.

"Annie" by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner

The Charleston Renaissance

Tradd Street was a creative sanctuary for other notable artists as well. Alfred Hutty, a 20th-century American artist who is considered one of the leading figures of the Charleston Renaissance. It is said that during a visit to the Holy City in 1919, that he telegraphed his wife in Woodstock, New York "Come quickly. Have found heaven." In 1927, Hutty and his wife Bessie settled into 48 Tradd spending winters in the city; joining other resident artists Dubose Heyward, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, Anna Heyward Taylor as part of the city's cultural and artistic revival.

Hutty's began producing etchings in 1921 and soon became a nationally recognized printmaker and oil painter. His subject matter was often Charleston itself - street scenes, landscapes and intricate architecture.

48 Tradd (c.) 1770. Artwork by Alfred Hutty.
"Meeting Street", oil on canvas, 1925. "The Sass Gate", etching 1927, "Magnolia Gardens", oil on canvas, 1920.

Hollywood comes to Tradd

Another creative, Alicia Rhett, best-known for her role as India Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind" called 59 Tradd Street home. The actress was discovered by Hollywood director, George Cukor, who originally had her read for the main role of Scarlett O'Hara. She was later cast as India, the younger sister of Ashley Wilkes. In addition to acting, Rhett was also an accomplished artist who was often seen drawing portraits of her fellow cast members on set during filming of GWTW.

59 Tradd Street (c.) 1870

Soon after her Hollywood debut Rhett gave up the tinseltown limelight and opted to move back to Charleston devoting her weekends to drawing and painting portraits in her Tradd Street home. The Citadel commissioned her to create a series of paintings featuring former presidents and scenes of cadets. But it was her depictions of everyday Charlestonians, which placed her work in such high demand. After her death in 2014, an archive of scrapbooks, correspondence, photos, journals, sketches and other keepsakes were found and are now housed at the College of Charleston.