Charleston was named for Charles Haskell, a settler who filed a land claim along South Slough in 1853.[6] South Slough is an arm of Coos Bay, which it enters near the bay's mouth on the Pacific Ocean.[7]Oregon Route 540, which crosses the slough southwest of Barview, passes through Charleston and links it to three state parks further south along the coast: Sunset Bay, Shore Acres, and Cape Arago.[7]
Postal authorities established a post office in Charleston in 1924.[6] The community's ZIP code is 97420.[8]
Estuarine Research Reserve
The South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, a 4,770-acre (1,930 ha) reserve along the Coos Bay Estuary, was established in Charleston in 1974.[9] It was the first of 28 such reserves in the United States and the only one in Oregon.[9]