Open Monday-Sunday
Admission Adults $12
Address 360 Meeting Street
Phone 843-722-2996
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. A few of its exhibits are relics of this history, when museums targeted their collecting at antiquities and ethnological and scientific artifacts.
The bulk of the museum, however, is devoted to the history of the city and the state, with chronologically-arranged exhibits providing a rough timeline of the major periods and events in Charleston and South Carolina history: American Indians and South Carolina’s African- and European-American settlers; 18th-century weaponry; the Revolutionary War and the Civil War; historic textiles and Charleston’s silverware; and more.
The museum also displays a selection of taxidermied and fossil animals native to South Carolina (an excellent, much wider collection of local fossils can be seen at the free Mace Brown Museum of Natural History at the College of Charleston).
The museum is best seen during the earlier part of a visit to Charleston, especially if you don’t know much about the history of the city. It is also an ideal stop on a rainy day, or when the weather is too hot for sightseeing.
Allow at least two hours for your visit. A combination ticket including admission to the Heyward-Washington House and/or the Joseph Manigault House is also available.
See also:
– More Charleston museums
– Plantations near Charleston
– Other attractions and things to do
– Charleston festivals
The Lowcountry History Hall outlines the human history of the Charleston area through artifacts from the tribes indigenous to present day South Carolina; colonists and planters; and enslaved African Americans. Exhibits include discussion of Charleston’s old walled city, its history as a port, and the area’s plantations, including a display of some of the fineries bought by local planters with the wealth derived from their slaves.
The Becoming Americans exhibit examines Charleston’s role in American Independence and the Revolutionary War, outlining the important battles that took place near the city and displaying many artifacts, mostly military, from the period.
The museum’s City Under Siege exhibit explores the history of Charleston in the Civil War, using historic photographs and other military and domestic artifacts from the period to tell the story of the effect of war on the people of Charleston.
The Armory displays historic weapons from 1750 to the 20th century, showing the development of their technology and the variety of guns that were used in the Charleston area. Items on display include military, hunting and dueling weapons; guns made by local gunsmiths; and pistols, along with a variety of military, dress and diplomatic swords.
The Natural History Gallery displays skeletons and taxidermied animals native (for the most part) to South Carolina, from prehistory to the present.
Highlights include the only known fossil skeleton of the largest ever flying bird (Pelagornis sandersi), discovered at Charleston Airport in the 1980s; a giant crocodile also formerly native to the Charleston area; and the skeleton of a primitive whale.
The Early Days gallery displays a selection of artifacts from the Charleston Museum’s history as the oldest museum in the United States, when 18th and 19th century museum collections centered upon displays of animal specimens, ethnological pieces from around the world, and ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman artifacts.
The Historic Textiles Gallery shows rotating exhibits of quilts, garments and other items from its substantial collection of historic textiles and clothing.
The Charleston Silver exhibit displays over 400 pieces of historic Charleston silverware, manufactured in the city to meet the demand for silver items from wealthy residents and planters. Included are examples of works from the colonial period through to the 20th century.
The Kidstory room presents a series of interactive, hands-on natural history and historical exhibits geared toward younger children.
A replica of the Confederate submarine HL Hunley can be seen outside the museum. The Hunley is famously the first submersible vessel to launch a successful attack on a ship in combat, sinking the USS Housatonic in the Charleston Harbor in 1864.
Over its short career, the Hunley was responsible for the deaths of 21 crew members, including the 8 crew on board during the sinking of the Housatonic, after which the submarine disappeared.
After many unsuccessful searches, the Hunley was finally rediscovered in the 1990s. The original vessel is presently housed at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, where it can be viewed on tours.
The Charleston Museum also offers a series of rotating special exhibitions on varied topics. See the museum’s website for information about current and upcoming exhibitions.
For additional information, call 843-722-2996 or visit the official website.
Open daily: Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sunday, 12pm-5pm. Closed on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Closes early on Christmas Eve.
Adults $12, youth (13-17) $10, children (3-12) $5, young children (0-2) free.
Combination adult tickets offering admission to the Heyward-Washington House and/or the Joseph Manigault House are also available: 2-site ticket $18, 3-site ticket $25. Child tickets can be purchased individually at each separate attraction.
360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403 (see on map)
The Charleston Museum is located opposite the main Visitor Center on Meeting Street, a few blocks north of Marion Square and about a mile north of the lower Historic District.