This small village along the southwestern shore of Staten Island was once known as Androvetteville or Androvettetown. The Androvette family came to Staten Island in 1699, and, during the 1700's, settled in the area now known as Charleston and engaged in farming.  Later, the family name would become associated with the maritime tug and towing industry.  Around 1850, 8 of the 29 structures in the village belonged to the Androvette family.

Many people today remember when Charleston was called Kreischerville. Balthasar Kreischer (1813-1886), a Bavarian immigrant, opened a brick manufactory there in 1854. The clay was ideal for his bricks. He erected three mansions on a hill overlooking his company town -- a 26-room Italianate style house for himself and two identical houses for his sons Edward and Charles. Kreischer’s homestead was called Fairview. Charles’s house, located at 4500 Arthur Kill Rd., still stands today.  It is a NYC designated landmark and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kreischer’s business and the town he helped develop flourished. He built housing for his workers and a house of worship nearby.  The church, originally named St. Peter's German Evangelical Church of Kreischerville, remains standing today and is known as the Magyar (Hungarian) Reformed Church, located on Winant Place.  In 1886, just three years after the church was dedicated, Balthasar Kreischer died.  His funeral took place in his beloved church.  He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

The name of the village was changed from Kreischerville to Charleston during World War I because of anti-German sentiment.

Charleston remains one of the most remote and sparsely populated areas on Staten Island.  The community is also home to the Clay Pit Pond State Park Preserve.   Recently it was announced that an additional 25 acre parcel of land would be preserved through The Trust for Public Land.

In 2005, the development of the lands once occupied by the Kreischer Brick Works began.  The Tides at Charleston, a 190-unit senior housing complex, is the first age-restricted housing development not only on Staten Island, but in the five boroughs of NYC.