Goose Creek, a Definitive History

Just fifteen miles inland from Charleston, South Carolina sits the charming city of Goose Creek, a vibrant community with a history over three centuries in the making.
That history teems with all the trappings of a traditional Lowcountry city, but to many, Charleston's long historical shadow has obscured Goose Creek, and few know the real story of the people and events that define the city's past. With Goose Creek, South Carolina: A Definitive History 1670-2003, Michael J. Heitzler seeks to shed light on Goose Creek's fascinating history. The first of a two-volume set, Planters, Politicians and Patriots illuminates the foundations of Goose Creek and the lives of the Europeans and Africans who settled in the wilderness and out of it carved successful plantations - Sedgefield, Otranto, Medway and more - as large and lucrative as any in the Lowcountry.

Michael James Heitzler was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1947. He is the son of Marine Corps Colonel Joseph S. Heitzler and Gentry Virginia Heitzler. He is the father of two sons, Andrew and Adam. He received his formal training in several public and private schools from Florida to Hawaii and holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of South Carolina. He has served as a teacher and administrator in the Berkeley School District, South Carolina, since 1968, was elected to Goose Creek City Council in 1976, and has served as mayor of the City of Goose Creek since 1978. He is the author of Historic Goose Creek, South Carolina, 1670-1980, which was published in 1983 by Southern Historical Press, Easley, South Carolina.