King Street

King Street, Charleston’s main commerce and dining street, is considered one of the best places to shop in the southeast. King Street is divided into three different sections, each providing its own experience and range of establishments.

The neighborhood around Upper King Street (north of Calhoun), also known as the Dining & Design District, is one of the highlights of Charleston’s food scene, with dozens of restaurants and bars. The “design” part of the district’s name comes from its architectural firms and interior design shops.

Middle King Street (Calhoun to Market Streets) is the Fashion District, with a mix of national chains and local boutiques offering everything from everyday fashion to vintage clothes and jewelry.

Lower King Street (Market to Broad) is Charleston’s Antiques District, occupied by a variety of antiques stores and art galleries and other boutique shops. Many of the shops along King Street are located within historic buildings, and many of the establishments themsleves have been owned by several generations of Charlestonians.

Meeting Street & The Four Corners of Law

Meeting Street and its immediate vicinity is the location of many of Charleston’s main attractions, with numerous museums, historic houses and churches close by along the mile-or-so-long stretch from the Charleston Museum southward to White Point Garden. Along the way are dozens of historic buildings, including many old mansions on the street’s southern blocks.

Attractions and sights on or near to Meeting Street include the Charleston Museum and Meeting Street Visitor Center; the Joseph Manigault House; Marion Square; the Nathaniel Russell House and the Williams Mansion; and numerous historic places of worship.

Charleston’s Four Corners of Law stands at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets. The term, which dates from the early 20th-century, describes the buildings at the corners of the intersection – the Charleston County Courthouse, US Post Office and Federal Courthouse, Charleston City Hall and St Michael’s Episcopal Church – which together represent the local, state and federal branches of the law, and the ecclesiastical influence that has shaped the city’s governance too.

St Michael’s Church is the oldest of the buildings, constructed in the 1750s. The County Courthouse has stood since 1792, and Charleston’s City Hall since 1804. The Post Office building is comparatively modern, erected in 1896. Behind City Hall is Washington Square, a small park home to many historic monuments.

French Quarter

Charleston’s French Quarter – alongside the Cooper River between Market, Broad and Meeting Streets – corresponds roughly to the northern portion of the original walled city, settled in the early years of the colony. Some of the oldest buildings and streets in the city can be found here.

According to most estimates of its construction date, the Pink House (17 Chalmers Street) is the oldest building in the city, dating from around 1695-1712. It was recently an art gallery, one of many you can find throughout the French Quarter.

This area has been known as the French Quarter since the late 20th century, reflecting the concentration of immigrants from France who made the district their home and place of business.

The French Huguenot Church and Lodge Alley are most closely associated with the district’s French heritage today. The Huguenot Church holds the distinction of being the oldest Gothic Revival style church in South Carolina, erected in 1844. Lodge Alley, which forms its own one-block Historic District within the larger downtown historic area, was once Charleston’s center of French commercial enterprise, occupied predominantly by the French merchants who gave the Quarter its name.

Other points of interest in the French Quarter include the Dock Street Theatre (135 Church Street), which dates from 1809 and was built on the site of the first dedicated theater building ever constructed in the United States, in 1736; the historic St Philip’s and Circular Congregational Churches; the Old Slave Mart Museum; and Charleston’s oldest surviving public building, the Powder Magazine.

South Of Broad

The South of Broad Street district is a must-see part of Charleston’s historic landscape, offering some of the oldest and most impressive historic buildings and homes in the city and sweeping views out over the Charleston harbor.

The main attraction South of Broad is the Battery, lined with some of the most magnificent mansions in the city, and White Point Garden, a small, shaded park (one of the oldest in the country) at the very tip of the Charleston peninsula.

The remainder of the district, which was Charleston’s original (and since, much extended) Historic District, is almost entirely residential. Quiet and peaceful, South of Broad is primarily visited for the beautiful architecture of its historic homes and their often colorful gardens.

Other highlights of the South of Broad district include Rainbow Row, a series of 18th- and 19th-century row houses painted in an array of pastel shades (on East Bay Street between Elliott and Tradd Streets); the historic First Baptist and First Scots Presbyterian Churches, both on Meeting Street; and the Nathaniel Russell and Heyward-Washington Houses (both open for tours).

Ansonborough

This historic neighborhood, east of Meeting Street and immediately north of the French Quarter, boasts beautiful architecture and several of Charleston’s most popular attractions.

The much-visited City Market marks the southern border of Ansonborough, with many restaurants nearby. The Charleston Gaillard Center, further north, hosts shows and other special events. Historic places of worship and other significant buildings (including the William Rhett House, believed to be one of the oldest surviving residences in the city) can be seen throughout the district.

Fronting on the river are the South Carolina Aquarium, Liberty Square, and the departure point and visitor center for trips to Fort Sumter National Monument.