By   Rhett’s Charleston

Charleston has a new activity called letterboxing.

Nine of us are walking down a narrow lane beside Catfish Row. DuBose Heyward used these buildings as the set for Porgy and Bess. The alley leads to a parking lot unseen from the street. The surrounding brick walls are overgrown with creeping fig. Buried in the tangle of leaves and vines is a letterbox, with a journal and stamp inside.

Letterboxing combines mystery, adventure, and Charleston’s history.  It is quickly winning participants by its mental challenges, its opportunities to explore the outdoors, and its impossible-to-ignore demand that you experience the awe of Charleston’s special places and great stories on the way to success.

To start requires a personal (usually hand carved) rubber stamp, stickers, or a drawing, a notebook for a personal journal.

Letterboxes, small weatherproof containers, lurk in public places.  Clues lead to a unique romp through Charleston’s natural history and cultural sites to find them. Clues can be found online at Letterboxing of North America, or at charlestonletterbox.blog-city.com.

Discreetly retrieve a box. Open it and “stamp” its journal (with a personal stamp or sticker). Journals may allow short comments.

The letterbox also has a stamp or sticker to mark the finder’s personal journal. The box may also hold new instructions, new clues or other surprises!

What’s the thrill of finding a letterbox, and documenting the journals? “The hunt, the chase, the mystery, the discovery. It taps our ancient instincts. We are hunter-gatherers. You feel a rush of excitement when you close in on a box,” Walter Rhett explains. Rhett, a local historian, is designing a series of local letterboxes called “Suite Trails.”  Suite Trails will be tied to local themes such as the civil war, Gullah culture, colonial worship, or marine life.

Rhett thinks letterboxing has mass appeal. “It’s fun for all groups, all ages, and appeals to all the senses,” he says. “School groups, corporate groups, and especially families can enjoy letterboxing together.” 

After being found, each box is returned its exact location without damaging the area.  (Be careful to make sure insects and other creatures are not nearby!)

            Letterboxing began a hundred and sixty years ago in England. Letterboxing took root in the United States after a 1998 feature article appeared in the Smithsonian magazine. Today, 22,000 letterboxes are planted in the American cities and countryside.

If Mt. Everest is too high, the white water sections of the New River too dangerous, and the Amazon rainforest can’t re-supply your favorite foods, then try letterboxing, a grass roots activity that is simple, creative, and with common sense, safe.

            It only requires quick wits, a careful love of the environment, and a morning or afternoon to enjoy. So leave a mark on local history.

Get a clue!

Find a letterbox!