"One Night That Changed Charleston Forever"
September 13, 2011
Note this:
Cote said the under-appreciated story of the disaster was the city's impressive recovery -- one accomplished with no financial help from state or federal governments.
"In most books of this kind, the disaster -- the terror, the destruction of lives and property -- is the story. Not with the 1886 earthquake," he said. "The story is the most extraordinary recovery from a mass catastrophe disaster in American history."
Crucial to the recovery was a city committee that was full of experts -- one that didn't contain a single elected official and one that funneled private donations to where they were needed most, he said.