Town of James Island

Town of James Island James Island, South Carolina
Town
The marshes of James Island, SC
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Counties	Charleston County
Incorporated first	8 January 1993
Incorporated second	2002
Incorporated third	June 2006
Incorporated fourth	24 April 2012
Government
• Mayor	Bill Woolsey (Libertarian)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code	29412
Area code(s)	843
Website	http://jamesislandsc.us/

James Island is a town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. It is located in the central and southern parts of James Island. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, James Island is included within the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metropolitan area and the Charleston-North Charleston Urbanized Area.

Here at James Island on November 14, 1782, Andrzej Tad Kosciuszko, Colonel of the Continental Army, led the last known armed action of the Revolutionary War against the British and was nearly killed. Later, The Continental Congress named Kosciuszko Brigadier General for his service in both the North, including his tremendous assistance to General Gates at The Battle of Saratoga and brilliant efforts assisting General Greene in saving the South Region Army from Cornwallis forces and ultimately severely weakening the British under command of Cornwallis.

Long settled as a semi-rural area, this island has been affected by increasing urbanization and the expansion of the city of Charleston.

Island residents incorporated the Town of James Island on January 8, 1993. Joan Sooy was elected as the first Mayor.

A lawsuit was filed by the City of Charleston claiming that the parts of the new Town were not contiguous, being separated by salt marsh that it had already incorporated. The City of Charleston prevailed at Circuit Court and the Town appealed. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled against the Town in 1997.

The South Carolina legislature changed incorporation law to allow incorporation over already annexed salt marsh. The Town of James Island was incorporated a second time in 2002. Mary Clark was elected Mayor.

The City of Charleston challenged the Town again, this time arguing that the new incorporation law was unconstitutional special legislation. The City of Charleston prevailed in Circuit Court and the Town of James Island appealed. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the singling out "salt marsh" was irrational, the legislation was ruled unconstitutional and the Town was closed for a second time.

South Carolina changed the state laws affecting incorporation, effective on July 1, 2005. A third attempt to become a town was successful in June 2006, when about 3,000 voted to incorporate. The day after the vote, Charleston mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. filed a lawsuit against the town for the third time, saying that it was unconstitutional. Mary Clark was elected mayor of the town for the third time in August 2006.