[3][4] Charleston is located on the west bank of the San Pedro River, about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Tombstone.

[7] Once the future site of Tombstone's mills was established, the land that was to become Charleston was claimed by Amos Stowe on October 28, 1878, and planning for the town began immediately thereafter.

Due to an attractive leasing system set up by Stowe, businesses flocked to Charleston, and by May 1879, the town already housed approximately 40 buildings,[8][11][12] including a post office which opened on April 17, 1879.

Burnett's fines were diverse, including anything from cattle to cash, and ranged from nine cords of wood for theft, through one thousand dollars when saloon owner Jacob Swart shot and killed a man.

[1][3][24][25] When the silver mines in Tombstone flooded in 1886, the mills were forced to shut down, and Charleston and Millville went into steep decline.

[27] After it was abandoned, Charleston was briefly inhabited in the 1890s by a small population of Mexican immigrants who furthered the town's dismantling by using what was left of the wooden structures for kindling.

[3][7][28] Later, during World War II, the United States Army used Charleston as a practice site for urban combat, often using live ammunition.

[8] All that is left of Charleston today are a few adobe ruins and scattered pieces of stone foundations, all of which are hidden amongst the underbrush.

[7] What little is left of the local cemetery is approximately a mile and a half north of the Charleston site, though it is difficult to locate, and very few traces remain.

[3] The site is part of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (NCA) maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.