Charleston and the Low Country. We live just across Charleston Bay on "Jim Island". James Island is a large triangular sea island, framed by Wappoo Creek and Charleston Harbor on the north, Morris Island and Folly Beach on the east, and the Stono River and Johns Island on the west. The Civil War began on James Island on the morning of April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces at Fort Johnson fired on Union-occupied Fort Sumter. All images copyright Larry Laskowski, 2003 - 2008