While the Southern Colonies were known for having numerous plantations, they had few towns and cities. Plantation owners wanted to use as much land as possible for growing cash crops and were not interested in building towns. However, by the mid 1700s, settlements along the Atlantic coast grew into large towns. These large towns all had the same thing in common--good harbors for trade. Port cities became popular when both buyers and sellers needed a place to exchange goods. Ships brought imported goods such as tea, furniture, and medicine and left with exports such as tobacco, rice and indigo from the Southern Colonies. In the mid 1600s Charles Town became the largest city in South Carolina. It was the center of both trade and social gatherings.