Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site protects the remains of a trading town founded on the Ashley River in 1697 that flourished until the Revolutionary War and was then abandoned. Little of the town survives above ground, which makes the preserved ruins stand out. The brick bell tower of St. George's Anglican Church rises over the site, a fort built of tabby (a concrete made from oyster shell) stands nearby, and the remains of a log wharf can be seen at low tide. Archaeologists continue to excavate the settlement, and their work, combined with Charleston's colonial records, helps fill in how people lived in early South Carolina.