Noisette has been occupied by “sustainable communities” for thousands of years, back to the days of Native American tribes like the Wando, Stono and Sewee. European colonists began arriving in 1670, and the area was used mainly for farming, mining and lumbering until the end of the 19th century.

That was the beginning of its role as one of the country’s largest and most active navy bases, a role it filled for almost 100 years. The City of North Charleston was incorporated in 1972, and much of its development was oriented toward base activities until the facility was closed in the military realignment of the mid 1990s.

The closure helped launch the Noisette project by offering a large expanse of empty facilities and undeveloped land in the center of South Carolina’s fastest growing urban area.