Mark Jones
Mark R. Jones is an eighth generation native of the South Carolina lowcountry. He is an author, historian, licensed guide and tour operator in Charleston, S.C. He has conducted more than 40,000 tours.
He is the author of seven other books. His first book kicked off the wildly popular Wicked series for The History Press. Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City (2005), was followed by Wicked Charleston, Vol. II: Prostitutes, Politics & Prohibition (2006).
In 2007, Jones published two true crime anthologies, Palmetto Predators: Monsters Among Us and South Carolina Killers: Crimes of Passion. Jones, and one of the Predator stories, was featured in the Investigation Discovery program “A Crime To Remember” in 2016.
In 2013, Jones published Doin’ the Charleston: Black Roots of American Popular Music & the Jenkins Orphanage Legacy and Kingdom By The Sea: Edgar Allan Poe’s Charleston Tales. In 2015, Jones published Charleston Firsts. and the Charleston Almanac.
Jones is also an active speaker, creating historical presentations for a wide variety of organizations - schools, libraries, corporate and civic organizations.
“In Charleston, temperance is a four letter word.”
“Charleston is not the center of the universe, but it should be. That is the persistent perception of many locals.”
“the city is full of three types of people, the first being soldiers, the other classes are politicians and prostitutes, both very numerous, and about equal in honesty and morality.”
“The main difference between a lawyer and a prostitute is that a prostitute won't screw you after you're dead.”
“During the settling of the American colonies, it was said that the Spaniards would first build a church, the Dutch would first build a fort and the English a tavern. Welcome to Charleston, an English colony founded in 1670.”