Charleston Museum

The Charleston Museum provides a great introduction to the history of Charleston and the lowcountry, boasting the largest collection of materials on South Carolina in the United States. Although currently housed in a modern building, the museum has its roots in the very oldest museum in the United States, founded in 1773. It is located at the northern end of the Historic District.

Exhibits document the natural and cultural history of the region, from prehistoric skeletons to modern-day artifacts. There is also usually at least one special exhibition on display.

360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403
843-722-2996
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Old Slave Mart Museum

This museum, housed in one of the several sale yards and marts from which enslaved people were once sold in Charleston, discusses the city’s role in the American trade in enslaved people, along with the history of the building and site and the sales of people that took place there.

Built in the 1850s, the building was used for trading enslaved people for only a few years before the Civil War and Emancipation. It is believed to be the only surviving auction facility used for this purpose in South Carolina.

Exhibits include artifacts from the history of the trade in enslaved people and audio recordings of old oral histories made by formerly enslaved people, accompanied by extensive text, which together explore the history of slavery from the experience of being sold to the treatment of enslaved people.

6 Chalmers Street, Charleston, SC 29401
843-958-6467
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Powder Magazine

Charleston’s Powder Magazine, built in 1713, is a quick stop on a tour of the city’s oldest and most historic buildings. The Magazine, built in the early colonial period as a safe and central place to store gunpowder, is today the only surviving portion of Charleston’s original fortifications and the oldest surviving government building in the state.

Inside the former powder magazine’s single room are exhibits outlining its place in Charleston’s history, with historic weaponry and uniforms among other artifacts. Docents are usually available to answer any additional questions. Please note that a visit to the Powder Magazine is included in many guided tours of Charleston.

79 Cumberland Street Charleston, SC 29401
843-722-9350
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Postal History Museum

This small free museum makes for a quick but interesting stop, located inside the Post Office at the corner of Meeting and Broad Streets. Its single room displays historic postal machines, delivery bicycles, stamps and other artifacts pertaining to the history of the US postal service.

77 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401

Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum

This museum, across the Cooper River from Charleston at Patriots Point, Mount Pleasant, is one of the highlights of the Charleston area’s attractions. Allow at least a few hours for your visit.

The museum is located on board and inside of the USS Yorktown, a 1943 aircraft carrier that saw action in the Pacific theater of the Second World War; the USS Clamagore, a 1948 submarine used in the Cold War; and the USS Laffey, a 1944 destroyer. Besides the many historic aircraft displayed on the Yorktown, there are also interior exhibits exploring the history of the ship, life on board, and other aspects of naval history.

40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant, SC
843-884-2727
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Mace Brown Museum of Natural History

This free museum, located inside of the School of Sciences and Mathematics Building at the College of Charleston, displays almost a thousand prehistoric fossils, including dinosaur bones, ice age mammals once native to the Carolinas, and a reconstructed jaw of the Megalodon, an enormous prehistoric shark.

202 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC
843-953-3967
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Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon

This museum, spread across three floors of the former Exchange building and Provost Dungeon, outlines the history of Charleston in the colonial and revolutionary periods and the city’s contribution to American independence. Historical exhibits are located on the upper two floors, with guided tours of the dungeon given by costumed docents.

122 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401
843-727-2165
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North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum and Educational Center

Located in adjacent North Charleston, this museum is worth a trip for its large collection of historic fire-fighting vehicles, some dating back to the 18th century. Additional exhibits explore the history of firefighting and the experiences of modern-day firefighters.

4975 Centre Pointe Drive, North Charleston, SC 29418
843-740-5550
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Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

This small, free museum located inside of a historic 1850s Neoclassical Methodist church building, is one of a series of Karpeles Manuscript Library museums across the United States, which together constitute the largest private collection of original manuscripts in the world. The museum houses rotating special exhibitions on varied historical topics.

68 Spring Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403
843-853-4651
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Museum At Market Hall

This small museum, formerly known as the Confederate Museum, houses a vast number of artifacts and items of memorabilia pertaining to the Civil War, including displays of Confederate uniforms, weapons and historical flags.

188 Meeting St, Charleston, SC 29401
843-723-1541
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